Pizza Angels
by roguespirit
Summary: Oarai orders pizza from the Pizza Angels: a pizzeria operating out of a Zeppelin flying over the Pacific near Japan, but pilot Redab Salguod, who is delivering their large order, gets more than he bargained for when a rival flying pizzeria gets aggressive with their competition.
1. Red Angel

**This is what happens while reading a GuP fan-fic while watching a music video called: Pizza Angel, while remembering one of my favorite video games. Enjoy.**

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**Red Angel**

"We've got a problem!"

The manager of Pizza Angels turned to the young teen with a tired expression. The dispatcher was a bit of a high strung case, one of the reasons he had never qualified as a combat pilot. He often blew things out of proportion; one could even call him neurotic at times.

"What is it Patches", he asked in an aggravated voice. 'Patches' was the name the pilots had given the position of dispatcher, but the call sign seemed to match this individual particularly well.

"We just accepted a large order from a school ship!"

The manager pinched the bridge of his nose. "And?"

"And we only have one pilot available!"

The manager sighed. "How large was the order?"

"Sixteen large pizzas, and they want them delivered straight to them."

The manager put his face in his hand. So that was it. On paper this wouldn't be an issue, but Pizza Angels was no ordinary Pizza place. Pizza Angels was a flying Pizzeria, housed in a large Zepplin that was currently flying over the Pacific, and thus they had to use planes to deliver the pizzas to their destinations, over the wide area they serviced.

For large orders like this one the customer would usually go and pick them up at the airstrip, allowing the pilot to return quickly, but this time they were being asked to deliver it straight to them.

"Because students can't drive I guess", the manager muttered.

Deliveries outside the aircraft were not uncommon, and usually they weren't much of a hassle because most of the aircraft had a compact scooter in their hold as a means of transportation; unfortunately there was no way that tiny scooter would be able to carry so many Pizzas at once, and he couldn't take multiple trips or they could get cold, or worse: stolen.

"What about a trailer?"

The dispatcher gave him a blank look. "A trailer?"

"Yes, put in a trailer that he can tow behind the scooter. He can put all the pizzas in there and bring them all at once."

Patches seemed to run this through his head for a moment. "But will a trailer fit in the plane?"

"Why are you asking me? Why don't you go find out?"

Almost in a panic, the dispatcher left the office and scrambled down the metal stairs though the hanger area and towards the storage holds.

The manager sighed. "I'll never let that guy fly me anywhere."

The manager walked over to the window overlooking the hanger. From this vantage point he could see the cavernous space that was used to house the aircraft, and the single aircraft they had left.

The Sanderson "Vampire" hung from its universal joint on the spinning rack that was horizontally centered on the 'spine' of the Zeppelin. It was painted in the colours of the Pizza Angels with a red fuselage, white wings and horizontal stabilizers; and red wingtips. Painted on each wing was the Pizza Angels emblem: a slice of pizza with a halo and small feathery wings.

The pilot was checking the aircraft over as part of his pre-flight checks, a crucial task on the temperamental machine.

Red, as the pilot was known, was wearing the standard flight uniform of the Pizza Angels: a red and white, vinyl flight jacket with the company's emblem over the left breast, and a matching hat, and a white t-shirt with res sleeves underneath, also with a small company logo. The rest of a pilots outfit was up to them.

The manager could only sigh and hope everything went well.

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Redab Salguod walked around the nose of the aircraft, checking for any damage in the plane's weathered, riveted skin. Every step he made on the metal grating of the hanger deck resounded through the cavernous interior and rang loudly, even over the constant droning of the Zeppelin's numerous engines, mostly due to the fact that warping caused them to not fit properly into the floors framework.

The plane hung suspended on a universal joint that allowed the plane to be easily maintained, (or in this case inspected) without having to be taken off the rack, and the rack itself rotated when one of the planes needed to be launched. It had seven mounts for aircraft of which his was the heaviest.

The plane had seen a lot of flight hours that was for sure. The leading edges were half stripped of paint, revealing the gleaming metal beneath, and what paint was left was dull and weathered. His main focus however, was not on the aircraft, but the mission at hand.

Delivering Pizza was not a terribly difficult thing but this mission presented a major problem, namely he had to deliver it after he landed; again normally not a problem, but sixteen? He absentmindedly opened the cargo door near the nose of the aircraft and looked inside.

For balance, the heavy scooter was shoved far into the hold, closer to the middle of the aircraft, leaving plenty of space for Pizza closer to the door and any other items that needed to be accessed quickly, or at least before the cargo.

He heard the sound of frantic footsteps rapidly approaching him.

"Red!"

The pilot let out a heavy sight. Dealing with the dispatcher on anything other than a dispatch was a huge drain.

"What is it? Did you talk to the manager?"

He turned and saw the dispatcher carrying a canvas and aluminum object.

"Yes, he said to use a trailer", the dispatcher panted. "I found you a small collapsible one."

The trailer used the blue canvas as the bin to hold the cargo, with the aluminum acting as the frame. Folded up it was the size of a small suitcase.

"Great! We'll put that in last. How long 'till the Pizzas are ready?"

"They should be down here in a few minutes. Have you done your pre-flight checks?"

"I'll do the rest when I'm in the cockpit."

"Do you have your emergency kit?"

"Yes."

"Is your radio working?"

"That's one of the pre-flight checks."

The dispatcher continued this back and forth several more times until mercifully the Pizzas arrived, delivered by one of the deck hands.

The dispatched was also relieved.

"Excellent! Red, you get into the cockpit, we'll load the plane."

Red saw no reason to argue and immediately climbed into the snug but comfortable cockpit of the Vampire.

It smelled of old carpet and there were stains all over the interior. The seat was upholstered in dark red vinyl that was starting to crack and masking tape had replaced the rubber grip on the control stick. Even the throttle controls for the planes twin engines had been reduced to mostly bare metal, though remarkably the instrument panel remained in excellent condition, where only natural fading due to exposure had taken place.

As he began his final pre-flight checks and the cargo was loaded, he checked his pockets for the invoice, the credit card machine, and put on his Aviator's sun glasses.

As he finished he heard a banging noise and saw the dispatcher and deck hand give him a thumbs up, saying they had close up the plane. Ordinarily a pilot would have to confirm for himself that the cargo door was properly closed, but that was a bit of a loose regulation here, and the clock was ticking.

He started up the Vampires twin engines and waited for the oil to warm up. He radioed the control room and they opened the belly doors of the Zeppelin.

Wind rushed into the open gap and he felt the rack rotate to place his plane over the howling opening.

From his position Red couldn't look down to see what lay below, but being over the pacific he had a pretty good feeling that it was ocean.

He gradually throttled up the Vampires engines until they reached pull power. He signaled the controller watching him from the control room to his right, and then the plane dropped.

The dull, artificial light of the hanger was suddenly replaced by natural sky that was turning a soft orange as the sun set.

He shoved the control stick as far forward as it would go, slowly forcing the Vampire's nose to dip, revealing the rapidly approaching serenity of the Pacific ocean.

He checked the airspeed indicator and as soon as it reached the required speed he hauled back on the stick until the plane was level.

Red blinked to clear his vision from the effects of G-force and checked his aircraft for any signs of trouble.

His altitude indicator read 2000 feet and his airspeed was stabilizing. The weather was mostly clear and the sun was setting, painting the distant clouds a lovely red and the sky a brilliant orange.

He reduced power on the engines to climbing speed and looked back at the zeppelin he had just left.

Its bay doors were now closed and the Pizza Angels emblem, was the only distinguishing feature he could make out from that distance.

He contacted the control room of the zeppelin:

"Red Angel, all green, proceeding to delivery. Over."

"Roger Red Angel. Happy flying. Over"

With that done he started climbing to cruising altitude and double checked the GPS that was providing up to date information on the ware bouts of Oarai's school ship. He made a small course correction, and then settled down for the forty minute flight.

The Sanderson FB14 Vampire had been designed as a heavy fighter bomber, with a heavy armament of six 30mm cannons and several hard points for rockets and bombs it was a force to be reckoned with. All that combined with its impressive armor brought the Vampire to a hefty 13,250 pounds, and although it was a fighter bomber, it wasn't very good at dogfighting thanks to its cumbersome handling and slow speed.

The Vampires normally troublesome maintenance requirements had been mostly alleviated by replacing many of its components with higher grade parts, and replacing the original engines with a pair of more powerful ones from Pratt & Whitney. In order to make space for the cargo hold in the fuselage, the two inboard most cannons in the wings had been removed, making space for a door to open, but it was still a tight fit with the remaining cannons. The dedicated courier variant didn't have these problems, but then Pizza Angels needed the armor and weapons.

Red pulled the delivery instructions out of his right breast pocket which showed a map of the top deck of Oarai's school ship.

The red circled indicated the delivery point, and it was drawn around what looked like a set of large industrial storage sheds, or heavy vehicle garages.

"Not too far from the airstrip either", her mumbled. "Maybe this won't be as big a deal as we thought."

Twenty minutes into the flight, Red could see the silhouette of the Oarai school ship in the distance. Even from so far away he could tell it was huge.

If he remembered correctly it was over 7 kilometers long, had an average beam of 1,000 meters, and the deck was nearly 500 meters above sea level. Definitely a massive ship and from what he was told it wasn't even one of the big ones.

He was about to prepare for his landing approach when the hairs on the back of his neck stood up. By pure instinct he threw the control stick hard to the left and slammed the left rudder pedal as far as it would go.

Tracers streamed by where he had been milliseconds before and a twin engine green airplane flashed past.

He reversed his turn and looked down to see a green E-1C Avenger. The green livery meant one thing: "Pavarotti's Pizzeria Pirates".

They were a rival flying Pizzeria that had always been territorial, a part of their 'charming' image as 'pirates'.

Red looked behind him and saw another Avenger bearing down on him from 4 O'clock.

The Avenger fired its guns, streaming angry red tracers that just fell short of their mark and the Avenger overshot.

Red reversed his turn again to try and get a few of his own shots off but by the time the sluggish Vampire turned the Avenger was far out of range.

Red cursed and searched the sky for the first Avenger and found it heading almost right for him, barely a kilometer away.

He turned the Vampire to face the attacker who, much to Red's initial bewilderment kept coming at him. Who in their right mind would go head to head with a vastly more heavily armed and armored aircraft? When the bewilderment had passed however, he understood.

The Avenger pilot thought that his Vampire was the unarmed courier variant. Many companies in the same kind of 'aggressive business' as Pizza Angels would disguise cargo variants of combat aircraft by fitting fake guns as a cosmetic camouflage to disguise the fact that they were unarmed. After all, why would a Pizza delivery company spend the extra money on the much more expensive and unreliable warplane variant?

A sadistic grin spread across Red's sunlit face. That pilot was about to learn that "Pavarotti's Pirates" weren't the only ones who understood 'Aggressive Marketing'.

Coming at each other in excess of 600 miles per hour, the Avenger pilot opened fire a full second too early, while Red with his heavy cannons had the range advantage. He pulled the trigger and volcanic thunder erupted from the Vampires wings as 30mm shells hurled themselves at the enemy plane.

The shells converged and slammed into the Avenger's fuselage like flying hammers, blasting large holes through the planes mediocre armor, snapping control cables and shattering the instruments.

Red pulled up hard and skimmed over the burning wreck of the Avenger as it barreled past him. He had fired only two rounds from each of his planes four cannons, but it had been more than enough to reduce the offending aircraft to a tumbling fireball.

He looked behind him and saw the unfurling white silk of a parachute, indicating the pilot had escaped, miraculously alive.

Red scanned the sky for the other Avenger and found it circling at high altitude, not making any kind of attack or even positioning himself for one.

Red could only hope that it meant the other pilot was having second thoughts about tangling with him. He didn't wait for the pilot to make up his mind, and resumed heading straight for Oarai's ship. If that Avenger pilot was smart, it would stay and keep an eye on his fellow pilot until help arrived, or at least until he hit BINGO fuel.

"Oarai School Tower this is Charlie, Tac, Golf, Romeo, Whiskey, Sierra on approach. Requesting expedited VFR approach. Over."

A young feminine voice came back over the radio.

"Golf, Romeo, Whiskey, Sierra, roger. Say again, you're requesting expedited approach? Over."

"Affirmative. Hostile aircraft in area. Requesting expedited approach into no-fire zone. Over."

Once they got within two kilometers of Oarai's school ship, neither of them would be allowed to open fire. This no-fire zone was to protect the people on Oarai from getting mixed up in any skirmish between aggressors.

Red lined himself up on the ship ahead of him, he was about five minutes from it at his current speed, and he could just make out the runway lights.

Suddenly the hairs on his neck stood up again. He jammed the stick forward and firewalled the throttle. Tracers streaked over his head and the familiar green blur of an Avenger roared past him.

Red swore. The Avenger was going to try and shoot him down before he got into the no-fire zone. The enemy pilot was looping around for another pass, and if he kept going he would get another run before Red was in the no-fire zone.

Red had to pull back on the throttle or he would be forced to do a circuit and try to land again, giving the Avenger more chances to shoot him down. Instead he dove, dipping the plane below the airstrip's horizon in an attempt to gain speed, but this way, he could lose the speed when he climbed back above the ship's deck.

"Golf, Romeo, Whiskey, Sierra, you are now in the no-fire zone, but you are too low, please pull up."

With a sigh of relief he started to pull back up and lowered his landing gear. He looked behind him and then saw the Avenger bearing on him yet again.

He jinked to the left and dove. Bullets pinged off the underside of the plane and the Avenger rolled to the right, starting a barrel roll that would bring him back behind the Vampire one more time before they hit the ship.

"Golf, Romeo, Whiskey, Sierra, Pull up" the air traffic controller yelled over the radio!"

"Negative", Red responded. "Enemy aircraft is still pursuing, I'm going to have to pull up at the last minute. You try to contact that pilot and get him to lay off."

"We've tried! No response!"

Red gritted his teeth as the Avenger came down on him again from the second half of his barrel roll. He was so close to the rear of the ship that he could make out the hair colour of people sitting down on benches looking at the two aircraft streaking towards them.

Red waited a full heartbeat, the longest heartbeat in his life, and then pulled back on the stick with all his might. A stream of bullets struck the Vampire's wings as the Avenger fired and then Red swore again as the Avenger flew behind and underneath him.

Red hit full flaps as he climbed above the ship's deck. He could hear the Avenger's engines screaming at full power as it squeezed into the tiny space between the Vampire and the ship.

The Avenger slipped ahead of him as they climbed, right into Red's gun sight. His finger twitched reflexively but he didn't let it near the trigger. He would not make the same mistake as that pilot.

With the Avenger ahead of him, he nosed forward before the plane stalled and lined up for the final approach to the airstrip.

"Golf, Romeo, Whiskey, Sierra on final. Over.", he announced to the air traffic controller.

"Acknowledged, Golf, Romeo, Whiskey, Sierra. Were you able to see the registration on that hostile aircraft? Over."

"Negative control. Was busy trying not to get shot. Over."

"Roger. Please clear the runway quickly. Welcome to Oarai Academy Over."

Red smiled. "Even after that they act like I'm an ordinary tourist."

As the Vampire's wheels touched down and it settled onto the runway Red quickly looked behind him again, but didn't see the Avenger. He hoped that meant it was gone now. Speaking of which-

"Golf, Romeo, Whiskey, Sierra, to control. Over."

There was a pause before they answered.

"Golf, Romeo, Whiskey, Sierra, go ahead Over."

"Have you received any distress call? There was one pilot who abandoned his aircraft approximately ten kilometers behind the ship. Over."

There was a longer pause before they answered again.

"Golf, Romeo, Whiskey, Sierra, are you saying an aircraft was shot down? Over."

"Affirmative control; approximately ten kilometers behind the ship. Over."

"Acknowledged. We will send a search team. Was pilot hostile? Over."

"Affirmative control. Over."

"Roger Over."

Red taxied the Vampire to the ramp and shut down the engines. He removed his aviator's shades and wiped his brow before opening the canopy and climbing out.

From his vantage point on top of the wing he could see where the Avenger's last burst had struck the aircraft. The plane had been so close that the bullets hit the wings instead of the fuselage, but damage near the wing roots was never a good thing, and he would have to get the plane inspected before he could fly it again.

"Boss isn't going to be happy", he muttered.

He dropped to the ground and opened the cargo door to retrieve the wheel chocks. He chocked all three wheels before starting to unload his cargo.

First he unloaded and then deployed the collapsible, canvas trailer and then started to put the pizzas into it. Thankfully they still felt warm, even after all that time. Now came the hard part.

Red hopped inside the cargo hold and released the straps holding the folded scooter in place. The scooter weighed about 100 pounds when full of fuel, so it was always a bit of a struggle to load and unload it, though it was more of the awkwardness then the actual weight. He managed to get it down and then shut the door.

Red maneuvered the scooter to the front of the trailer but his heart sank when he discovered that the scooter didn't have a trailer hitch.

"Come on Red", he told himself. "You're a man; improvise."

He opened the cargo door again and pulled out a rope that was used to tie down the plane when it was parked on the tarmac. He tied one end to the underside of the scooter's seat and then tied the other through the trailers loop. He stuffed the excess rope into the trailer, started the scooter's tiny two-stroke engine, closed the Vampire's cargo door once again then got on the scooter and set off.

"Why would they put all their high schools on ships", Red wondered as the scooter putted along.

The school building was large enough that he was able to make out its large silhouette fairly easily against the smaller building around it. He arrived just as the last rays of the sun disappeared over the horizon.

He quickly spotted the large brick garages and drove up to the large green door. Its chipped paint and worn exterior betrayed its age. When he turned off the scooter's noisy engine, he could hear lively chatter coming from inside.

Hoping he was at the right place he knocked loudly on the door and waited for a response. A hush descended on the people inside, and then about twenty seconds later someone opened the door.

It was a girl with brown eyes and matching hair tied up into a short, voluminous ponytail and when she saw him she gave him a beautiful smile.

"Pizza delivery", Red announced.

The girl giggled "Right on time". She opened the door, inviting him in.

Red quickly undid the rope holding the trailer and then pulled the trailer inside, but was not entirely prepared for what he saw, because when he first entered the building the first thing that caught his eye was a line of tanks.

Red knew from his combat experience, which models they were, and some of them were impressive, while others were simply odd, or generic.

Sprawled out on picnic cloths on the floor were groups of girls between three and six in number, each. He guessed they were the tank crews.

Another girl with chin length black hair, wearing half a pair of glasses, and a scowl, walked up to him.

"Are you from Angels Pizza?"

Red groaned inwardly. The other girl was able to see the obvious, and it's Pizza Angels

He reached into the left breast pocket of his jacket and pulled out the invoice.

"Here's your bill."

The girls snatched it from him and then took it over to a small girl with twin tails and a permanent smile in contrast to her compatriot's scowl.

Red looked out over the rest of the girls still sitting on the floor. Each group seemed to have its own theme. One looked like a sports team, another full of noticeably younger girls, one of ordinary looking girls, one consisting of girls in orange overalls, but the one that caught his eyes the most was the group of girls who all appeared to be in some kind of costume from some period in history, including one who appeared Roman, and more strikingly one blonde girl wearing a world war two era German jacket and cap.

She had noticeably fairer skin than her Roman friend, and most strikingly her blonde locks were flared out in an odd but eerily familiar manner.

"Hey you!"

Red turned to see the mono-spectacled girl approach him with a wad of cash.

Red accepted the cash. "So what's the occasion?"

"You're here to deliver the Pizza. Just do your job and get out."

"Scuse me", Red muttered as he started to count the money.

"Everyone, line up to get your Pizza", the rude girl ordered just before Red addressed her again.

"Hey Colonel Klink; you're 200 Yen short!"

'Colonel Klink' whirled around, aghast. "Impossible! You miscounted."

"I counted it twice", Red argued. "You're short!"

"Senpai!"

Red and the Klink girl turned to see one of the younger girls holding a small bit of cash.

"This was on the ground."

Red went over and took it.

"What do ya know. It's 200 Yen."

Klink regained her composure and put one hand on her hips.

"There, you have your money, now do your job and get out."

Red grunted but nonetheless set about his task of handing out the individual pizza boxes from their insulated bags. He handed one out to each of the girls who came to collect them, some even said thank you."

After he had finished and was about to take the trailer back outside he looked up and there was one of the ordinary looking girls with shoulder length orange hair, standing just off to his side.

"Can I help you", he asked in a professional tone?

"Ah, um, I was just going to ask if you wanted to stay."

Had she not heard the exchanges between him and their Colonel Klink? He was obviously unwelcome.

"Sorry ma'am, it's against company policy to party or mingle with customers while on duty."

This didn't seem to discourage her, in fact she grabbed onto his arm.

"Aw come on, it's boring here with just girls, and I bet you could tell us about all kinds of things. You're a pilot right? That must be a well-paying job."

Alarm bells rang in Red's mind and her tore away from the clingy girl.

"Hey, don't be like that", she said with a child-like whine. "I just want to get to know you better."

Red grabbed an object strapped to his right side and brandished a small black cylinder containing a shiny metal rod with a bulbous top. He flicked it at the girl and it sparked causing her to jump back fearfully.

Red looked around to make sure no one else was coming for him and then calmly pulled the trailer back outside and closed the door behind him.

He sighed. "Why can't I ever deliver to normal people?"

While it was possible that girl was merely being overly friendly, people had warned him about Japanese girls who tried to get close to him, or ask him about his finances like that.

"Am I just paranoid" he asked himself?

He looked out towards the ocean and sighed. "And they didn't even give me a tip."

Red reused the rope to lash the trailer to the back of the scooter and mounted the vehicle to return to the plane. He still had to report the events of the day to his boss, who wouldn't be happy about one of his planes being shot at, especially in close proximity to the school ship. What's worse, the plane was damaged.

"Hey wait!"

Red looked up and saw one of the girls from inside run up to him. She had a very voluminous, short, light-brown hair and eyes. She had been one of the 'normal girls' that he had seen.

"Can I help you?"

The girl reached into the pocket of her skirt and pulled out a small series of bills.

"We forgot to give you your tip."

Somewhat surprised Red accepted the money; although he had a strong feeling that this girl had just given him his tip out of her own pocket instead of everyone contributing.

"Appreciated", he said.

"Also, sorry about Saori", the girl apologized. "She reads a lot of girl's magazines and they don't always give the best advice."

"Tell her to stop reading whatever magazine she got that advice from" Red told her.

The girl chuckled. "Also I need to apologize for our public relations manager. She acts really tough and abrasive, but she's not that hard a person."

It took Red a full second to realize who she was talking about. "Colonel Klink is your public relations manager?"

The girl blinked in confusion, not understanding the reference.

Red simply raised his hand as a signal to never mind it.

"I'm Redab Salguod, but you can call me Red."

"M-my name is Yukari Akiyama."

It was amazing how a simple introduction could improve the atmosphere of an already friendly conversation.

"So tell me Yukari. What exactly is going on here? Your PR Manager wouldn't tell me."

Yukari's eyes seemed to light up and a huge smile overwhelmed her face, until she was practically beaming.

"We just won the National Panzerfahren Tournament, and this is kind of a small early celebration party before we do something more formal."

Red should have guessed they were a Panzerfahren team. It was the only thing the Japanese did with tanks outside of the Defense Forces.

"Congratulations", Red said in as polite a tone as he could muster. Yukari didn't seem to pick up on that though, and she got even more excited.

"Yes, it was a tough battle, just us alone against the enemy team's Tiger, but we managed to beat them, all thanks to Lady Nishizumi!"

Red perked up and then looked at Yukari with a raised eyebrow. Yukari still looked pumped, with her hands clenched in fists and her cheeks flushed with excitement.

"Nishizumi? As in the Nishizumi tank school?"

"Yes! She's originally from there but she left it and we ended up beating her old school which was led by her older sister! We beat one of the best tanks schools in the world!"

Red was suddenly unable to contain himself and broke down into fits of near hysterical laughter.

Yukari was caught off guard by this and stood motionless and bewildered as the pizza pilot started crying from his own hysterics.

When he finally managed to calm himself down Yukari asked him the obvious question.

"What's so funny?"

Red sighed and wiped a tear from his eyes. "I hate to break it to you Yukari, but the Nishizumi tank school is arguably the worst tank school on the planet. They're great at being in parades and that's it."

Yukari's face was completely blank, as if her mind had crashed and was now rebooting. When she seemed to have booted up again her brows furrowed and her face flushed with anger.

"Who says that", she demanded! "The Nishizumi school wins the international Panzerfahren competition all the time!"

Red sighed and shook his head. "Look Yukari, I hate to bust your bubble but Panzerfahren isn't looked upon with as much fervor in the rest of the world as they are here in Japan. In fact in the rest of the world, Panzerfahren is just a stepping stone for most girls to get into military schools for Junior high."

Yukari blinked, and her mouth opened slightly. "Junior High?"

Yeah, most elementary school girls who want to go to military school join Panzerfahren teams to increase their chances of getting accepted. So basically the Nishizumi School is just a bunch of seal clubbers. That's why they win almost every year."

Yukari's fists clenched up and her face wrinkled in anger. "Lady Nishizumi isn't like that at all! She's an amazing person, and she could beat any other panzer commander in the world if given a fair chance! And she may not have followed their doctrines but she still learned her craft from the Nishizumi school so there's no way it's one of the worst."

Red sighed. "Much as I'd like to stay and argue with you I have to go inspect my plane, and then report in to my boss."

"Then I'll come with you" Yukari insisted. "I can't let Lady Nishizumi's honor go undefended!"

Red sighed. "Fine, hop on."

He kicked the starter and the scooter burped to life.

Yukari sat on the back seat side-saddle and then tentatively wrapped her arms around his waist.

'I guess she's embarrassed', Red thought. He gave the engine a quick rev, and then started back towards the airstrip, hoping his new female companion would at least let him do his job while they argued.


	2. Feast of Champions

**Feast of Champions**

**This chapter is a tie-in with chapter 1 that explains what was going on just before and after Red's arrival.**

**Also a little easter egg for all of you: Red's full name "Redab Salguod", is actually an anagram for a famous WW 2 flying ace. Can you guess which one?**

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"Everyone, well done winning the national tournament!"

The Student Council President had just walked into the garage where the entire Oarai Panzerfahren team was trying to get their tanks back in working order for the celebration parade back in Oarai proper, and her sudden, spontaneous outburst caught everyone off guard; thus it was several heartbeats before everyone responded and cheered.

"Now it's time we celebrated our victory with a grand party!"

That brought some confusion to the girls.

"President, didn't you say we were having the celebration after the parade?"

The bespectacled freshman, Aya, was always one of the first to ask questions, and when it came to the President, who was as predictable as the weather, there were always a lot of questions.

Anzu's seemingly permanent smile impossibly grew broader when she responded.

"That's the celebration for winning the tournament, this will be about defeating Kuromorimine; both are great accomplishments so they both deserve to be celebrated independently!"

The Oarai girls all shared the same expression of uneasy compliance. The expression that said Anzu's suggestion was in some way outlandish, or absurd, but resistance was futile so they had no choice to go along with it.

"So then", she continued. "Does anyone have any ideas for a party?"

Suddenly everyone's exasperated expressions evaporated, replaced with youthful excitement.

"Volleyball tournament", Duck Team shouted.

"Another party is unnecessary! Things will get too rowdy" Sodoko objected!

"Tank drifting competition", Leopon cheered!

"All girl frag fest", Anteater suggested quietly.

"A slumber party would be nice", Saori said to the rest of her group. "Group gossip is important for girls our age."

"That sounds nice", Hana said. "I've never been to a slumber party before."

"Me neither", Miho admitted, "Though I've always wanted to."

"Then that's definitely what we should do", Yukari said excitedly.

"I vote for slumber party", Mako said sleepily.

Of course Mako's response was no surprise. Although her circulation and demeanor had improved noticeably since starting Panzerfahren, she was still rather lethargic; even now she was having a hard time staying awake. The other teams however were still outputting their own ideas.

Oryou crossed her arms and closed her eyes thoughtfully. "I believe a fireworks display would be suitable."

Caesar grasped her chin. "The Romans would often hold orgies when they wanted to party." Her cheeks turned a soft pink as she smiled. "Lots of wine drinking, lots off….

"Rejected", Sodoko yelled! "That's far too lewd, against the Rules!" Sodoko's face had become a dark red colour and she was starting to pant from the strain of her yelling."

Caesar smiled at her, though there was a hint of mischief in her expression.

"I wasn't making a suggestion, I was just thinking out loud. I don't know why you're so flustered."

Sodoko gawked, suddenly being put on the spot for her assumptions.

"Sodoko's a pervert", Mako announced in her usual deadpan voice.

Impossibly Sodoko's face got even redder.

"That's not it" she squealed, (something unusual for her), "those thoughts are inappropriate and should never even be thought much less said out loud! This is still a school activity!"

"Then how about a beer drinking party", Erwin suggested with a smirk.

Sodoko whirled around instantly. "Nein!"

"How about a pizza party!"

The room went silent and they all looked at Ayumi from Rabbit Team who stood with her hand raised.

"Mmmmhmmmm, I like that idea", Anzu said. "Let's do that!"

The other teams, while mildly disappointed their suggestions didn't get picked, had no objections; however there was one main problem, one that Yukari was quick to point out.

"But President, there are no pizza delivery places on the ship."

Rabbit team began emitting sounds of distress at this distressing revelation.

"Ehhhhhh?"

"No way!"

"Relax, relax",Anzu said in her usual laid back tone. "Just leave everything to your trusty Student Council."

The other girls all shared worried looks. The "trusty Student Council", had a tendency to make troublesome situations that could normally be avoided, if for no other reason than Anzu's amusement, or Momo's desire to throw their weight around. Poor Yuzu was always just along for the ride.

Anzu clapped her hands together. "Now everyone, please clean up and get some picnic blankets. Also figure out what Pizza you would like to order, and tell Yuzu when you're done."

Yuzu gawked at her. "But Momo's the one with the clipboard."

"Don't worry about it, you'll do fine Yuzu", Anzu said. With that she and Momo left, leaving the beleaguered Vice President behind.

The girls excitedly began cleaning up the mess from the repairing of their tanks. Most of the cosmetic damage had been repaired but there was still plenty of mechanical work to do.

"A pizza party sounds fun", Hana said. "I've never had pizza before."

"I haven't either", Miho admitted.

"Ehhhh, seriously" Saori said in schock! "Going out for pizza is one of the 'must do' activities for girls in their school years. Going out for Pizza with your friends is a one of a kind experience, and it helps you associate with American boys if you ever meet one."

"Everything leads to boys with you", Mako said with a hint of annoyance.

"At least I have goals", Saori huffed.

"Now, now, let's just try and have fun with this", Miho said.

Yukari, wanting to lighten the mood, decided to jump in.

"I have a tarp at home we can use as a blanket."

Saori objected. "Wouldn't an actual blanket be more comfortable?"

"Well, this floor is pretty dirty, and even if we clean it, it's still the floor of a tank garage", Yukari explained.

Saori grimaced. "Yeah, I guess I wouldn't want to do that to a blanket."

"We should probably tell the vice president what pizzas we want", Miho said.

Yuzu was already busy trying to write down all the orders with a dull pencil and a tiny writing pad.

"I feel sorry for her", Yukari said.

"It's alright", Saori told her. "Reliable, hard-working girls rarely have trouble finding a husband, and she's got good looks on top of that so she'll be fine."

"So then it's Karma", Hana asked?

"Maybe we should decide what pizzas we want before we get sidetracked", Yukari said.

"I don't know anything about pizza, so I would very much appreciate it if you ordered for me Yukari", Hana said.

"Eh?"

"I also don't know anything", Miho admitted, implying she also wanted Yukari to order for her.

"Even Lady Nishizumi", Yukari squeaked? "But I could order the wrong thing, and you wouldn't like it."

"I'll just have whatever you're having Yukari", Miho replied, assuring her friend, but this only made Yukari even more nervous.

Miho trusted her so much that she would let her order food for her, but what if she ordered something she was allergic too, or she really didn't like. Yukari liked her pizza with a lot of meat but she had never seen Miho eat much meat.

"You know what I want Saori", Mako said.

Saori sighed. "Come on Yukarin, let's go."

Snapped out of her thoughts, Yukari anxiously stood up and walked with Saori over to Yuzu, who was still crowded by the other teams.

"So I guess Mako and I will share a pizza, and you and Miporin will share one, so that means we'll order three large pizzas."

Yukari smiled nervously. "Yeah, I don't think Miss Hana would be satisfied with anything less."

Saori sighed. "Her metabolism makes me so envious."

When Yuzu left, everyone started cleaning up while each team sent someone to retrieve a blanket or something for everyone to sit on.

Rabbit team had a classic red and white checkered picnic cloth, Leopon team simply laid down some cardboard, Hippo team brought some tatami mats, Duck tuck team brought towels, the Sodoko clones simply brought a mat for each of them and set up a cardboard box as a table. Finally, Yukari brought her forest camouflage tarp.

As Yukari lay it out on the floor, Saori still looked unsatisfied.

"Don't you have a softer one?"

"Tarps aren't really meant to be soft", Yukari said.

Saori pouted but Miho had a brainwave.

"What about the pillows we bought to put inside our tank back when we started? We should still have those in here somewhere."

Saori's frown turned upside down instantly. "Great idea Miporin!" Suddenly ecstatic, Saori ran off towards the pile of boxes stacked in the corner of the room.

"It's great to see Saori happy", Hana said.

"She complains too much", Mako grumbled as she lay on the tarp.

The other girls thought that was, 'the pot calling the kettle black', rather a bit, but regardless, Saori found the box of pillows in no time at all and was soon as happy as anyone else.

The student council soon returned and announced their pizzas were on the way, then quickly set up a table, with tablecloth, candles, and even chairs.

"As expected of the Student Council" Saori said with a sigh.

Hana put her hands together. "Isn't it wonderful to see how everyone is different?" The other Anglerfish girls didn't look so sure.

"I wonder how they're bringing in the pizza", Yukari said, changing the subject. "If we can't get it on the ship then the only means would be delivery by sea, or by air."

"How would they bring it by air" Saori asked?

"There's an airstrip just portside of us here", she answered.

"That's right. That's how I got here originally", Miho added. "I went from the small airstrip near Oarai town straight here."

"I've never been flying before", Hana said.

"The only time I went flying is when I went with Mako to see her grandmother", Saori said.

"I've never flown either", Yukari admitted. "Dad's afraid of flying."

The sound of deliberate knocking on the garages large doors resounded through the large, open building like geriatric thunder.

"Is that the Pizza", Yuuki asked excitedly? Apparently she never had pizza either.

"Everyone calm down", Yuzu said as she stood up. "I'll go check, please remain calm."

Some of the girls raised eyebrows at Yuzu's unusually cautious behaviour, but Momo's piercing gaze told them that she had something to do with it. Was whoever delivering the pizzas dangerous?

Yuzu finally reached the small door built into the large garage door and opened it. The girls could hear someone call, "pizza delivery" from outside and were relieved when Yuzu held the door open without a hint of concern.

The person who was delivering the pizza however was a bit of a surprise for some of them.

"It's a guy", Saori whispered happily. Her hands were clasped together, her face was lit up and her eyes were practically sparkling.

Not much of his physical features could be made out because his delivery uniform - a cap and jacket of white and red with a slice of pizza with wings and a halo on both-covered him well. His hair appeared to be a short dark brown, and his eyes were a dark green.

He eyed the line of tanks briefly before Momo walked up to him and asked.

"Are you from Angels Pizza?"

The Oarai girls gave her strange and exasperated looks. He was wearing the regalia of the Pizza place and he had the pizza in insulated bags in the cart he brought in with him. It was baffling how Momo's mind seemed to work sometimes.

The delivery boy looked equally exasperated but said nothing. He simply pulled a slip of paper out of his breast pocket and handed it to her.

"Your bill."

Momo rather rudely snatched it from him and then walked over to Anzu.

The delivery boy meanwhile started looking around the room, moving his gaze over the crowd of girls gathered.

Almost in a panic Saori took out her compact and checked herself over.

"Do you really expect to get lucky", Mako asked her?

"I need to always be prepared", she insisted.

"Doesn't look like you're the one he's interested in."

Indeed when the girls looked to see what Mako was referring to, his eyes appeared locked on the History club members.

"He has odd taste", Mako observed.

"Hey you!"

Momo walked back up to him, snapping the boy from whatever he was thinking. Momo handed him a sizable wad of cash.

"I guess the pizza was expensive", Miho said with a concerned look.

As the delivery boy started counting he asked Momo what the occasion was.

"You're here to deliver the pizza. Just do your job and get out!"

The girls bristled at Momo's abrupt remark. Why was she acting so rude? She was normally such a professional.

"Everyone line up to get your order", Momo commanded.

Obediently all the girls stood and started to line up in front of the cart that contained the pizzas.

"Hey Colonel Klink; you're 200 Yen short."

Everyone froze, and watched as Momo whirled around.

"Impossible! You miscounted."

"I counted it twice" the boy argued. "You're short!"

"Senpai!"

Everyone turned to look at Karina who was crouched down between the cart and the Student Council's table. She held up a small handful of money.

"This was on the ground."

Ignoring, or bypassing Momo, the boy walked over to the small girl and took the money from her.

"What do ya know, it's 200 Yen."

Momo regained her composure and put her hands on her hips.

"There, you have your money, now do your job and get out."

The boy grunted, but nonetheless went about his task of distributing the pizza to the girls standing in line.

The Anglerfish girls returned to the tarp with their pizzas and sat down.

"Looks like the PR Manager put him in a bad mood", Saori said.

"Being treated like that when you're just trying to be friendly and do your job, would put most people in a bad mood", Mako said as she helped herself to the first slice of pizza.

"But that might be a good thing", Saori said with a hint of excitement. "It makes him more vulnerable to a girl's charms."

Worry wormed its way into the other girls as they slowly realized what Saori was about to try and do.

Miho tried to politely get her to change her mind. "Saori, maybe you shouldn't."

"Don't worry", she said getting up. "I found an excellent technique in a magazine just a short while ago."

The girls watched with trepidation as Saori left them and went to the delivery boy, who by now had completed his delivery and was getting ready to leave.

"Can I help you", the boy asked in a professional tone. He sounded like a waiter.

"Ah um, I was just going to ask if you wanted to stay."

Mako face palmed. "It's like she leaves her brain cells in the magazines she reads."

"Also, I don't think he would want to stay with the PR Manager around", Yukari added.

Mako was content to simply listen while she ate her pizza, having already predicted its inevitable outcome. The other girls in the Anglerfish team continued to watch with increasing concern.

"Sorry Ma'am, it's against company policy to party, or mingle with customers while on duty."

The girls sighed in relief, hoping that Saori would give up and leave it at that; Mako however knew Saori better.

Saori went even further by grabbing his arm, an action that put all the girls on alert. Was she mad?

"Aw come on, it's boring here with just girls, and I bet you could tell us about all kinds of things. You're a pilot right? That must be a well-paying job."

Mako groaned and face palmed again. Such expression from the normally stoic girl spoke volumes about Saori's error.

The boy tore away from her and backed away cautiously, as though Saori was a dangerous animal. Well in some ways she was. Now the entire room was fixated on the exchange between the two.

"Hey, don't be like that", Saori said with a child-like whine. "I just want to get to know you better."

The boy reached for a small object attached to his belt and swiftly brought it forward. The object emitted a bright spark from its tip making Saori the one to jump back this time.

"A stun baton", Yukari whispered.

The rest of the room was deathly silent, and Saori stood perfectly still as the hunter after a deer suddenly realized it was actually a bear.

The boy looked around, apparently concerned about other threats. He must not have seen any because he grabbed the cart and pulled it outside, closing the door behind him.

Saori, feeling dejected returned to the rest of her team.

"You really are hopeless", Mako said to her.

"It worked for everyone else who tried it", Saori defended. "I can't understand why it didn't work for me."

"What exactly were you trying to do", Yukari asked?

"The magazine said that the best way to hook a boy is to inflate his ego, and one of the best ways to do that is to complement their job and make them feel impressive."

"The way you did it made you sound like a gaijin hunter", Mako commented. "Didn't he look like a foreigner to you?"

Saori looked at her appalled. "Come on Mako that is such an old term. In this age when there are so many mixed families, especially on this ship, there's no such thing anymore."

"Have you forgotten about the state of the economy right now", Mako countered? "Other countries may have been hit hard by the economy too, but they have a greater illusion of money. Just a little tip for you."

"Oh, no", Yukari exclaimed! "We never gave him a tip!" Yukari quickly gobbled up the slice she had in her hand, then got up and ran out the door."

Saori groaned. "Why didn't I think of that?"

"Because you're too eager", Mako answered.

Saori crossed her arms and turned her head away indignantly. "It's not my fault. Men are too complicated."

"Everyone listen up!"

Everyone looked up at Momo as she addressed them.

"This was really expensive, so any team that doesn't finish all of their pizza will be forced to do 200 push-ups!"

The girls all moaned in protest.

"Whatever happened to bringing leftovers home", Saori protested?

"I'm sure it won't be a problem", Hana said.

"It will be if Yukarin doesn't get back soon. What's taking her so long anyway? Didn't she just go out to give him a tip?"

"Jealous because someone might be getting somewhere with a boy and it's not you", Mako teased?

Saori whined in annoyance.

"My, Mako is chatty today isn't she", Hana said with a giggle.

"Y-yeah", Miho agreed nervously. It was certainly apparent that Mako and Saori were close friends. Only close friends could bicker like that.

"Mhhmmmm, pizza is sooooo gooood", Hana moaned.

"Y-yeah", Miho said with even more nervousness. Now Hana was the one acting a bit out of character; though it wasn't too dissimilar to how she reacted to their tanks gun firing for the first time.

Miho's own pizza had been ordered by Yukari. It had a great deal of different meats in it and the cheese was thicker than on anything she had ever eaten, but based on everyone else's pizzas, that appeared to be the norm.

Although she wasn't the biggest fan of meat and she still found the food delectable, she could understand why one shouldn't eat too much of it.

The girls passed the time with idle chatter, talking about how they hoped the victory would change things for the better, besides saving their school of course. Miho hoped that the people of Oarai wouldn't mind a parade of tanks going through town.

More time passed and Miho started to worry about Yukari, she had after all been gone for a long time. Feeling full she closed the box of pizza and decided to try and save the rest for her, hoping that wouldn't cause them to do 200 pushups.

"Awwww, I'm stuffed", Saori groaned, holding her stomach.

"Me too", Mako added. "But we weren't able to eat it all."

It was true, there were three whole slices remaining, and the two girls looked ready to burst. Even Mako was unable to hide just how full she was.

"I'll finish it if you don't want to", Hana offered.

Miho looked over and gawked when she saw that Hana had already finished her entire pizza by herself. Though she always knew Hana was a big eater she had no idea she could eat so quickly. She must have really liked the pizza.

Saori and Mako didn't seem to pay it any mind as they simply slid their box over to her.

"Thank you very much."

Almost immediately afterwards, Yuuki from Rabbit team walked up to Hana, holding more pizza.

"Senpai, would you like to share the remaining pizza with me? Everyone else is full and we don't want to do pushups."

Hana smiled at the younger girl. "Of course, please join me."

Thrilled that she had been accepted, Yuuki sat down next to Hana and started eating out of the boxes she brought.

Saori shuffled next to Miho and whispered to her.

"Yuuki also grew up in a traditional home, like Hana, so I imagine this is also her first time having pizza, and since they're both considered Yamato Nadeshiko, she probably looks up to Hana."

Miho looked back at the two girls munching on the remaining slices of pizza.

Yuuki let out a small burp and turned beat red with embarrassment.

Hana laughed and put a reassuring hand on her head.

"They look like sisters", Miho whispered back.

"Don't they though."

Miho ended up looking back down at the half-full box of pizza in her hands, and her mind drifted back to wondering what happened to Yukari.

"I wonder if we should go looking for her", Miho wondered.

Saori could see the concern etched into Miho's face. She had learned early on that Miho was sensitive when it came to her friends. There was only one thing to do.

"Yeah, we definitely should. Oh, and we'd be able to hide the pizza at the same time", Saori whispered. She stood up and addressed the Student Council across the room.

"We're going to go look for Yukarin. Don't mind us."

She hauled Miho and Mako up and pulled them towards the door.

"Hey why are you bringing a pizza" Momo yelled at them?

"Because Yukarin hasn't eaten hers yet", Saori said. And then she shut the door.

"I'm not sure we got away with that", Mako said as they tried to put distance between themselves and Momo.

"It'll be fine if Yukarin can eat all the slices left", Saori answered.

"But even if we find her, will we be able to help her" Miho asked?

"I know right? That boy was kinda scary."

"He's a boy", Mako said. "So you'll scare him away like you always do."

"Shut up!"


	3. Fighting Spirit

**Fighting Spirit**

Yukari felt rather conspicuous on the back of the scooter as they travelled the short distance between the school and the airstrip. The noisy two-stroke engine shattered the ordinarily quiet neighbourhood as it worked hard to haul the trailer behind them and the weight of an extra person.

She sat side-saddle on the shelf behind the driver's seat with her arms wrapped around the driver. It was a bit awkward for her, being so close to a boy. It wasn't that she wasn't used to hanging around boys, she had met many whilst touring displays of armor from around the world during exhibitions in Japan, but that was before she became a teenager.

They cruised through the gates of the airstrip and as they travelled parallel to the runway Yukari saw the Search and Rescue chopper sitting outside its hanger. Did they fly it today?

Finally the scooter cruised to a stop and Red shut off the engine.

Yukari dismounted and brushed off her skirt before gazing at the large plane they had parked in front of.

In the dark, its red and white paint scheme, and aggressive shape gave her the impression of a dragon. She noticed a pair of cannons in each wing, which she guessed to be about 30mm types. She guessed that the plane was some kind of fighter bomber, but she had never seen one like it before in any of her research.

"You like the Vampire", Red asked her?

Yukari looked at him puzzled.

"I've never seen a plane like this before. It looks like a heavy fighter-bomber, with anti-tank cannons, but it doesn't look anything like the Typhoon or the IL-2."

Red chuckled. "A tank nut would think of those two first. No this thing never fought in WW 2. It's part of a series of planes that was developed from WW 2 prototypes or blue prints. They were intended to be used for the air element of the War Games since at the time they weren't able to legally reproduce the original aircraft, and the originals that fought in the war were too valuable, so the war games sponsored salvage missions to recover Corsairs that were ditched in the sea between WW 2 and Korea, and sponsored manufacturing programs like the Vampire."

Yukari scratched her cheek thoughtfully. "So, you don't fly historic aircraft in the War Games?"

Red sighed. "Well, that's the thing; we do fly historic aircraft-or at least reproduction replicas. Just before the war games got off the ground, so to speak, they were finally able to start reproducing the classics, preserving the military simulation the war games wanted, leaving these planes", he gestured to the vampire, "out in the cold."

Yukari looked past Red, and back at the Vampire. The plane had been designed to fill roles left vacant by the lack of historic aircraft, like the Typhoon and Thunderbolt, only to be cast aside when those classic machines were brought back, having no opportunity to prove themselves.

Even though she knew little about aircraft Yukari could tell the Vampire had been designed to inflict mayhem on their targets. She had seen what anti-tank cannons could do to both heavy, and light armored vehicles. For a machine to be denied the chance to prove itself in the role for which it had been built, it seemed rather tragic.

"So they ended up as pizza delivery planes?"

Red smiled, "not exactly. They were first used in a special league made for aircraft that had only been prototypes or never left the drawing board. It's changed somewhat now but it's still pretty popular and pilots love 'em because they're all so different. It includes prototypes, and limited production tanks too."

Yukari's eyes lit up. "Really; what's it called?"

"It's called the X-league now", Red told her. "Those matches are always interesting. I'm surprised you don't know about it."

Yukari's excited face turned into one of confusion and awkward realization. Why didn't she know about it? Surely someone who called themselves a connoisseur of tanks would know of such things.

By now Red had folded up the trailer and placed it into the Vampire's cargo hold and was now climbing onto the wing.

Even in the darkness of the airstrip Yukari could see the jagged metal outlines of battle damage at the wing root, where the explosive ammo had caused the metal skin to tear outward.

"What happened to your plane", Yukari exclaimed?

"I got shot at on my way in", Red answered nonchalantly. "Pizza business is vicious in the pacific."

Red then reached into the cockpit and pulled out a flash light.

"So what are the war games", Yukari asked, remembering the reason she was here? "I know what war games are, but I have a feeling that it's not exactly the same as what the military does."

Red smirked. "Actually they're not as far off as you might think. The only difference really is that we treat is as a sport, whereas the Military does it to prepare themselves for war."

He kneeled down and began to use the flashlight to inspect the battle damage as he continued.

"The war games were started because people didn't like what was happening to Panzerfahren. If you remember, it was after WW 3 and Japan had basically taken over the organization from Germany, and as you know Japan, and many other countries decided that men shouldn't drive tanks for fear that they would destroy the world, or whatever it was, even going as far as to abolish militaries all together, or at least get rid of the men in them.

Some people thought this was disrespectful and insulting to all the veterans who had served in both wars, and they were afraid that it would cause degradation in society. Remember, during the Third World War, women had started filling out a lot of combat roles in the military, and they had achieved equality with the men they served with, and it was their feeling that if they military was abolished, or if they had nothing especially masculine in which to prove themselves and maintain their equality, then things would side back."

Yukari blinked, slightly confused. "So it was women who wanted the War Games?"

"It might not have happened without 'em, that's for sure. A lot of men didn't want to lose all those high quality girls either. They considered all the women who had served in the military to be the cream of the crop, and felt that it had improved the quality of the women who served. They felt that if it all went down the tube then the quality of women would go down."

Yukari frowned. "I don't think that sounds right."

Red shrugged. "We'll there's some truth to it but that was their feeling at the time. Basically they wanted to avoid it all getting shoved under the rug so they tried to save the military.

"Then in Canada some decided to go a more round-about way through the cadet program by turning it from a youth program modeled after the military, into a paramilitary schooling organization, based more on their original conception back in 1941 as a program in schooling young men in military duties to prepare them for war."

"But everyone was suing for peace then", Yukari argued, "Why would they do that?"

"This is why Canadians have a reputation as warmongers amongst the neutered countries".

Yukari didn't have to think particularly hard about why other countries would be called 'neutered.' Many had abolished their militaries, with police and Panzerfahren being their only organization with weapons.

"Moving on", Red continued, "Since they couldn't use modern military equipment they ended up using surplus from WW 2 and such, and since they couldn't go to war, war games were created for them to compete in. Eventually this idea spread to the rest of the world and eventually became a huge sport that left Panzerfahren in the dust.

"Eventually Panzerfahren became mostly for girls who wanted to get into the military academies who didn't get in at the elementary school level. At least as far as I know, I'm into planes after all."

Red climbed back to the cockpit and then climbed out again to inspect the other wings battle damage. The pause gave Yukari a moment to think.

Panzerfahren had been started in Germany as a way of hiding the fact that they were developing new tanks and tactics prior to the start of WW 2. At the time, no one would take a bunch of tank driving women seriously.

Since Japan had taken over much of the Panzerfahren Federation's administration and organization, it had become more of a martial art than a simple sport. Red told her that the War Games were now a sport, and from what he said a world-wide one, but how come she had never heard of it?

She walked around the battered nose of the plane to meet him on the other side, just in time to hear him curse.

"Bastard got my control cable!"

Briefly startled, Yukari walked closer and peered through one of the bullet holes, cautious of the jagged metal around it.

Illuminated by the flashlights beam Yukari could see a cable that was badly frayed, with only a few strands keeping it from snapping. Even Yukari's simple understanding of aircraft allowed her to understand that the cable was connected to one of the control surfaces, and if it went it could prevent the plane from maintaining control while in flight.

"I guess this means you're grounded."

Red sighed. "Looks like it."

He slid off the wing and then began inspecting the damage underneath.

To Yukari, it was not unlike the members of the auto club inspecting the team's tanks after a fight. She could appreciate the need to inspect all equipment carefully, but for a pilot-even a civilian pilot, it was a matter of life and death. Speaking of which…

"So what are the War Games? I understand now how they came to be and what it's about, but I still don't know exactly what it is if it isn't like Panzerfahren."

From under the wing, Red sighed but agreed to further entertain her.

"The main difference is that the War Games encompass all spectrums of warfare as they were in WW 2, even spec ops, all in a single battle that takes place-usually over several days.

Yukari's eyes widened in surprise. "Several days! How big are these battles?"

"A lot bigger than any Panzerfahren battle I can guarantee that. Depending on which battle it is, and what kind of battle, we're probably talking around twenty-thousand participants on average."

Yukari felt weak in the knees. How were such massive battles possible? The logistics of such an operation would exceed what those of many modern militaries were capable of, certainly beyond the scope of an organization like the Panzerfahren Federation. Just who were these War Gaming people?

"So if that's the case, then does that mean you're having an air battle while there's tanks' fighting on the ground?"

He shrugged. "Yeah, sometimes, but my unit is a fighter bomber unit."

Yukari scratched her head. "You're part of a unit?"

Red came out from under the wing and shut off his flashlight. "Yep, 826 Manticore Squadron. We fly mostly fighter bombers, so we don't focus much on air combat, we usually go around looking for tanks to kill and troops to strafe."

Yukari felt a wave on envy. Yes they were part of a high school team, they were now the champions of the entire country's Panzerfahren teams, but all of a sudden Yukari started to feel like a small fish in what seemed to be an ever growing pond.

"I gotta' radio my manager", Red said as he climbed into his cockpit.

"R-right", Yukari responded. And as she watched him slid into his seat, she found herself alone with her thoughts.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Red slid back into the Vampire's weathered cockpit, and with a sigh of trepidation set the radio once again for the control room back on the airship.

"Pearly Gates this is Red Angel, come in over."

There was a long pause before someone answered.

"This is Pearly Gates, go ahead Red Angel."

"I need to talk to Peter right away." Peter was the call-sign for the manager.

"Roger; one moment, over."

Several moments passed before the radio was picked up again.

"Peter here, go ahead."

Red took a deep breath and prepared to lay it all out. It was the moment of truth.

He started with his spotting of the Oarai school ship, then about the two Avengers from "Pavarotti's Pizzeria Pirates", his attempted escape, and his landing.

"So you're alright then?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, but the wings are shot to hell. Someone removed all the armor at the wing roots, and now one of my aileron cables is shot almost right through. On top of that, I don't know if they're still prowling around up there."

He didn't hear it, but Red could imagine the manager sighing right then.

"All right, just stay on the ship until it docks and we'll pick you up."

Red figured that's what would have to happen. "Roger that."

"And don't forget to report in to the local authorities. We don't want any problems. Let them deal with Pavarotti."

"Roger."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

As Red sat in the cockpit, Yukari's eyes fixated on the torn skin of the Vampire's wings, and the stripped paint, scratches and dents in the nose.

She had been shot at of course, but only with simulation rounds prescribed by the Panzerfahren Federation, and she had always had at least 30 millimeters of steel armor and the infamous 'carbon layer' between her and the shell. Red had been taking live ammo in a thin skinned, fragile aeroplane, and he didn't even seem bothered by it.

The most baffling thing though was, why would someone try to shoot down a pizza delivery plane? True, it had guns but she doubted they were for anything other than self defense, so again, why?

Thinking back to their conversation, Yukari was starting to come to the realization that although she was very familiar with military history, and the history of Panzerfahren, she had next to no idea what was going on in the world right now. Added to that, with all her knowledge and love of tanks, how is it she had never heard of what Red called the War Games?

He spoke of massive battles taking place, of possibly hundreds of tanks fighting on a vast battlefield, and yet she knew nothing about it. How, in this age of information and communication was that possible?

She sighed and looked back at the Vampire's battle damage, bringing up the other thing bothering her.

During all her research into the history of the tanks and what they did in the wars, she wondered if she would be capable of the same bravery and sacrifice of those brave men in WW 2 and the women who joined them in WW 3. Would she have the courage, the will, to fight against overwhelming odds when there was live ammo flying at her? They'd beaten such odds during the tournament, but that was not the same thing when they knew their safety was virtually guaranteed, and there was no flag tank in real war.

Yukari heard a noise and watched Red descent from his cockpit.

"Sorry there Yukari, but we're going to have to continue our discussion some other time. There's some things I need to take care of."

"Oh, that's fine. I enjoyed what talk we were able to have."

"Glad to hear it. I can give you a ride back if you want."

Yukari shook her head. "No it's fine, I can walk."

Red shrugged and moved towards his scooter as he said: "Suite yourself."

Yukari's chest tightened, knowing what she wanted to ask, but she was afraid to say it, but as Red sat on the scooter and prepared to turn it on she metaphorically held her nose and took the plunge.

"We're you scared", she asked a little too loudly?

Red froze for a moment and looked at her. "What?"

"You were shot at weren't you? Weren't you scared while you were fighting; that you might die?"

Red just smiled and shrugged.

"I'm used to getting shot at. In the War Games we use sim ammo but it feels a lot more real than the shells you use in your tanks when there's a lot of it flying around.

"As for my life being in danger, I didn't have time to be scared, and I shot one of them down too, so I came out ahead. Does that answer your question?"

Yukari just stood there a moment, slightly bewildered, but eventually answered: "Yeah, I guess so."

"I knew what I was signing up for when I started this job. I figured it would keep my skills sharp while I made some money. That's all there is to it really."

Red started the scooters engine, gave her a two fingered salute and was off, leaving her standing alone on the poorly lit tarmac.

Not wanting to stay in the dark, Yukari started walking back to school to rejoin the party. She realized that she had left without saying anything to anyone about her leaving the school grounds. She hoped they weren't worried about her. Right now though, she was thinking about something else.

Red said he hadn't had time to be scared, something she had heard many veterans say, but he had said it so nonchalantly, as if it was the most obvious answer in the world. Just what kind of people were these War Gamers? Was it just because he was a pilot? She realized that she had a lot of research to do tonight.

"Yukarin!"

Shaken from her thoughts she looked up and saw Saori, Miho and Mako running towards her.

"Wh-what are you doing here" she asked?

"What happened to you", Saori asked grabbing onto her arm. "We thought something might have happened to you."

Shocked and ashamed Yukari fell to her knees.

"I'm so sorry I made you all worry."

With one hand on her hips Saori bent over and wagged her finger at her. "In future, always let us know where you're going." Her parental tone left no room for argument.

"I'm sorry", Yukari said again.

"I-it's alright", Miho said trying to relax her friend a little. "I brought you the rest of the pizza Yukari."

Yukari stood up and scratched the back of her head. "Thank you Lady Nishizumi."

"Make sure you finish all of it", Saori said. "Or the entire team will have to do 200 push-ups."

Yukari looked at her blankly. "What's so bad about that?"

In a flash Saori grabbed her by the shirt and glared into her, with eyes burning.

"Finish that pizza or I will shove them down your throat myself."

Yukari gave her an anxious smile. "R-right."


	4. Aches and Pains

**Pizza Angels 4: Aches and Pains**

**_If you haven't manage to guess by now than I'll finally let it out. Red's-Redab Salgoud- is named after WW2 fighter pilot Douglas Bader who became an ace, despite not having any legs. It's literally Douglas's name spelled backwards._**

* * *

Red sat in the small room at the end of a small rectangular table, on a small wooden chair. A single light hanging from the ceiling about two feet above the tabletop was currently the only illumination in the tiny room.

After answering numerous questions from the police, he had been forced into this interrogation room and all but imprisoned. He had been in a police interrogation room once before when on a tour of a police station as an Air Cadet. His most vivid memory of it was the smell of urine. This room however, was almost clinically clean, with only the dust, dancing in the light beam of the ceiling lamp contaminating it.

Sitting at the other end of the table, a man in a suit sat with his fingers intertwined, starring at a notepad on the table through his large, wire-rimmed glasses. He had arrived about twenty minutes after the police had placed Red in the small room, and had sat there silently staring at his notepad, and a clipboard on his lap, for the past seven minutes.

Finally he raised his hard gaze off of the table and onto Red. "Care to explain why you ended up shooting live ammunition in the vicinity of this peaceful vessel and its innocent inhabitants?"

Red could only look exasperated.

"As I've said many times, I approached your ship to get the hostile aircraft to stop shooting at me by flying into the No-Fire zone around your ship, which extends two kilometers from it."

"You deliberately put civilians in danger!" He yelled.

Red resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

"Then what do you suggest I should have done?"

The man separated his hands and placed them on the table, balled into fists.

"You should have simply ditched in the sea. Someone would have seen you go down and a rescue party would have been dispatched."

Red couldn't believe what this man had just said to him; had he ever spoken to anyone more ignorant that this man?

"Are you a pilot", he asked the man?

"That's an irrelevant question."

"You just told me I should have ditched my plane into the ocean. Do you have any idea how dumb that is?

The man's brows furrowed and he leaned forward. "Are you insulting me?"

"You haven't lent you intelligence any credibility so far", Red responded.

The man bared his teeth in anger but Red was unmoved, and ignored him.

"Ditching into water is always a last resort. It's safer to be shot at, than ditching into the sea. What's more, I was behind your ship, and I don't think you appreciate just how much the movement of your ship stirs the water. Your wake is particularly turbulent. If you're not a pilot, then you have no right to tell me what I should have done, especially if you've never been shot at either."

The two officers standing behind the suited man noticeably tensed, as if waiting for an explosive reaction from him; however the man did nothing. He actually calmed down and brought up the notepad.

"Now then, the charges."

Red sighed. "Let's not do this. You can't press charges against me because the laws about the No-fire zone say that the attackers are the ones who get charged, and I didn't fire a shot once I was in the No-Fire zone; in addition, I gave plenty of warning to the Air Traffic Controller, you have no grounds to charge me with anything."

The man interlocked his fingers again.

"The pilot we recovered from the sea told us that they attacked you because they believed you were on an attack run on our ship."

"I was delivering pizza", Red yelled!

"They assumed you were a pirate."

"What pirate would draw pizza on their plane?"

"What pizza delivery plane would carry guns", the suited man retorted?

"In case someone tries to shoot at us", Red snapped back. "I don't think you appreciate just how dangerous the pacific is."

The suited man just sat there, staring at him through his glasses. Then without a word he stood up and left the room with the police officers, leaving Red alone in the tiny room.

Red sighed and leaned back in his chair, suddenly missing his lumpy matrass back on the Pizza Angel Zeppelin.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Yukari gently lowered herself into the bath, letting the warm soothing water calm and relax her body and mind. Immersed up to her neck she felt much better as the filth of the day started to dissolve. Unfortunately the water did little to ease the pain in her abdomen.

Yukari had been forced to eat the remaining slices of Pizza that Lady Nishizumi had been unable to eat, and since she had the appetite of a bird, most of the pizza was still there, forcing Yukari to stuff herself full to bursting, and as a result her belly was aching terribly, even with the warmth of the bath water soothing her muscles.

She laid her head back and tried to distract herself from the pain by thinking about what happened just an hour ago.

Red had had told her how he felt about getting shot at, in fact he made it seem like no big deal. How could anyone feel so nonchalant about such a thing?

Yukari looked down at her hands and found them involuntarily balled into fists. She forced herself to calm down, and as she did so she realized that she was making excuses, that she was avoiding the real issue, the unthinkable concept, that what Red said about Panzerfahren, and the Nishizumi School was right.

Yukari felt disheartened. She had grown up with the utmost respect and admiration for Panzerfahren and those who practiced it. To her it was the closest anyone could come to experience what it was like for those brave souls who rode them in actual combat, not knowing if they would come out alive.

Now that image had been broken, or at the very least cracked. While she had yet to see with her own eyes any of these War Games, Red could not have made up such things so easily.

Panzerfahren was considered a martial art in Japan, something meant to maintain spiritual and physical integrity, while also providing skills that could be used in actual combat. If that was how they saw it in Japan, how did they see it out west?

From what she remembered, Red told her that Panzerfahren was just a stepping stone for those who wanted to get into Military Schools, something that elementary school girls did until they graduated to the War Games. Sure elementary school girls did Panzerfahren in Japan to some extent but there was no higher level to Panzerfahren other than the world championships.

Yukari stared down at the bathwater, watching the epidermis washed off of her body swirl. She lifted a hand from the water and let it pour out.

Red had used the term "Seal Clubbers" to describe Kuromorimine. From the context, she guessed it was a term used to describe those who picked on the weak, perhaps to the point of bullying. If Kuromorimine was indeed only facing elementary school level opponents, then winning the World Championships wasn't much to brag about.

At that moment an old saying popped into her head, one repeated many times in Japanese pop culture.

"Even when hunting a rabbit, a lion will use all his strength."

That phrase seemed to fit Kuromorimine to a tee. No matter their opponent they always fought with all they had, they never took their opponents lightly; they always made their best effort to destroy them.

Yukari wondered if that was why they were so serious. Where they trying to preserve the original spirit and tradition of Panzerfahren? If that was the case then why have such an inflexible and predictable style of combat? Hitting the enemy with everything you have at once sounded good on paper, but in reality it didn't take into account any reserve forces or pulling back to regroup for another coordinated attack if the first one failed. It was always do or die.

Despite their fearsome reputation, and their great display of power with their numbers and the quality of their tanks, even Yukari had to admit that they turned out to be a bit of a paper tiger. She had watched innumerable replays of the match since their victory and she had seen with her own eyes just how undisciplined and unskilled they actually were.

Commentators after the battle had been very vocal in their criticisms of Kuromorimine's performance, notably their lack of coordination, and the fact that they kept staying in one big group, sans the Panzer III and the Maus; however Yukari guessed the Maho kept her team in one group because they were so undisciplined and unskilled. Without her direct guidance they were little more than well-armed sheep. Yet another thing Red had been right about.

Yukari stood up in the tub and let the water cascade off her body. Despite being clean, she didn't feel refreshed as she usually did after a nice bath. Her abdomen still ached, and her mind was still clouded by her conversation with Red.

She dried herself off and changed into her favorite woodland camouflage pyjamas. The change in clothing helped alleviate her mood slightly but she was still feeling a bit low. It was as if their great accomplishments had lost its grand significance. Obviously that wasn't true; they had saved their school from being shut down, but it seemed like their bragging rights had been taken away.

She put her towel and old clothes in the hamper and then walked to her room. She closed the door behind her and sat down at her computer, determined to find something about the War Games, anything to provide her with some source of credible information.

Two hours later she remained in the same position where she started, and she hadn't found anything about the War Games other than a bunch of condemning articles and forum pages. Again, she had to ask why?

Having already ruled out Red as a liar, she guessed that there simply weren't any web pages in Japanese, though that would be a bit odd. The most obvious thing she could do would be to search English websites.

Having devoted her life to tanks, Yukari had ended up learning English along the way. Although not entirely fluent, her knowledge of the language was robust nonetheless.

She switched her keyboard to English and then went to the English Google site. She typed in War Games, and then Google hit her with more results than she would ever need. Finally it looked like she had found what she needed, but something caught her eye.

The images header only had red Xs underneath it, indicating that the links to the images were broken. The same was true for the videos.

Frowning Yukari clicked one of the web links, but was foiled yet again.

"It's blocked?"

Yukari had no parental block on her personal computer, and even if she did, she couldn't see why it would block something like that, it was a Wikipedia page for Patton's sake.

Frustrated she tried another link, and then another, and then another, each time her progress impeded by this curious blocking program.

Yukari ruffled her hair in frustration. Something was trying to stop her from finding out about the War Games.

She glared at the screen, as if demanding it to remove itself. It was possible that her parents had placed a block over their IP and not just her computer, but that seemed unlikely, neither of them was good with computers.

Yukari was determined to get around this, and she knew one way she might do it.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Red trudged along the dimly lit sidewalk, his mood foul.

The suit wearing man had tried awfully hard to keep him contained in the police station, but the police couldn't hold him legally if they had nothing to charge him with so they were forced to let him go, but they said they'd be keeping an eye on him.

Red was disgusted. He had grown up with Japanese immigrants as neighbours, who taught him their language, and fascinated him with their culture. He had always wanted to visit Japan one day, but now that he had (well sort of), he only wanted to leave.

He leaned against the railing on the sidewalk and gazed out onto the ocean, the moonlight dancing with the motions of the waves. A lovely sight, that helped him forget the difficulties of the day, and they were many.

"I can't wait for this ordeal to be over", he said. A simple pizza delivery had turned into a troublesome ordeal, with a single girl providing the only source of amusement.

Suddenly the sound of running and panting reached his ears and he turned to see that very same girl, running at him through the darkness.

"Yukari! What are you doing here?"

Yukari stopped in front of him, taking a few moments to catch her breath.

"I tried looking on the internet for the War Games you were talking about, but for some reason all the links were blocked."

Red frowned. "Well that is odd, but did you really have to come find me in the middle of the night in your pyjamas to tell me?"

Yukari's face went blank and she looked down at herself, just realizing that she had left her house wearing only her pyjamas and running shoes.

"How did you even find me", Red asked her?"

Grateful for a change in focus from her pyjamas Yukari answered. "I was on my way to the police station and I just spotted you standing here."

Red suddenly remembered that he had told her about the incident he had before arriving, and logically one would assume he had gone to the police station at some point.

"So what do you need me for", he asked. "I don't have my own computer with me."

"We can go to the Library for that", Yukari answered.

"What makes you think that the Library computers won't be blocked? If anything they'll have more blocks."

"We have to try", she answered firmly. "I won't be able to sleep until I solve this."

'And by extension, neither will I', Red thought glumly. "All right, lead the way."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Yukari led him to a large, plain, beige, building near the school, a rather boring looking building for a library on the ocean.

"I'm amazed it's still open this late."

"It's for the Naval Studies students", Yukari told him. Between 8 hours of school and 8 hours of work they need to be able to make the most of their time."

"Sounds just like the military schools", Red mused.

The two had to shield their eyes briefly as they entered until their vision adjusted and they were able to see the wide open space of the Ooarai Library.

Yukari wasted no time in finding a computer and logging in.

As Red calmly walked by he noticed that some of the girls were also in their pyjamas.

"At least you fit in", he told Yukari.

"But you don't", she commented as the computer booted up its operating system.

Looking over them again, some of the girls turned away nervously while others shyly hid behind their study volumes.

"Is a pizza delivery guy really so threatening", he wondered out loud.

Yukari didn't answer; instead she focused on the computer as it finished booting up. She changed to an English keyboard scheme and searched again.

Red watched the computer screen from over her shoulder as she searched, but just like at home, all the links were blocked. It didn't give the reason for blockage, only putting up a big red 'X' and Japanese characters that translated to 'Blocked'. Despite trying out over two dozen links the same screen kept coming up again and again.

"That's weird", Red said scratching his head.

"Maybe we can use different keywords", Yukari suggested. "Maybe that'll let us work our way around it."

A sly grin overcame Red's features and he leaned closer to whisper next to Yukari's ear.

"And where did you learn such a tactic, to use alternative keywords to work around internet safe-search blocks?"

Yukari's hands froze only briefly before she answered. "I saw it on T.V."

Red chuckled. "Sure, sure."

For the next hour or so the two of them tried innumerable different keyword combinations, but to no avail, they were blocked every time.

"I just thought of something", Red said. "This whole ship is basically a school right?"

Yukari looked at him, not sure what he was getting at. "Yeah; so?"

"So wouldn't it make some sense for a school type search-block to exist in most-if not all the computers on the ship? If they're all using the same network and accessing the internet from the same point then it would be easy.

Yukari tapped her chin thoughtfully. "I guess so, but even so, why would the school block something like this?"

Red shrugged. "Politics I guess."

He stretched and yawned. "Well if you don't mind I'm going to find a hotel or something. I've had a rough day. See you later."

As Red left Yukari stayed at the computer thinking.

The block prevented her from accessing websites about the War Games, but why was she able to find those condemning articles before? She realized that there was more to this mystery than she initially thought.


	5. Foggy Mirrors

**Pizza Angels 5: Foggy mirrors**

Red yawned and stretched as he walked along the edge of the ship's deck. The sun was still fairly low in the sky, casting its early morning glow on the flickering waves below as the ship traveled to its destination.

He was tired, very tired. He'd gotten only a few hours of sleep thanks to Yukari's insatiable curiosity, and then he had to find a hotel. It took him over an hour to get service at the only hotel that was open 24 hours, leaving him barely standing by the time he got to bed. He would have slept longer but his internal clock forced him to wake up and start the day, however tired he was. Such was the discipline that came with being a combat pilot in the War Games. He recalled being up for two days straight, hitting bridges and tank columns, not to mention the dogfighting he had to do.

Thinking about it, he couldn't help but smile. He missed his old King Cobra; the Vampire just wasn't the same.

He sat down on a bench and started to think about what he was going to do till the ship docked tomorrow and he met up with the Zeppelin, not much to do on a ship like this. He wasn't allowed in many parts of the ship, simply because he had a plane on the ground with guns. He sighed, he was almost hoping someone would come and shoot at him to relieve his boredom, almost, he knew better than to ask for such things, 'cause you just might get it.'

Red heard a series of rapid footsteps approaching him, and they had familiar sound and rhythm. He turned his head and saw a girl running towards him in PT gear and mountain boots. She looked familiar enough; did he see her yesterday? There was something else too, something that made his body stand up, and go nearly rigid, as if to stand at attention.

The girl stopped at the nearby water fountain and drank her fill, her body damp with perspiration. Then Red realized that it was the blonde girl he had noticed when he made the delivery yesterday. So much had happened since then that it felt like a week ago.

The girl gasped and threw her head back, taking a moment to catch her breath. She must have sensed someone looking at her because she turned and looked right at him.

"Oh, you're still here?"

Red shrugged. "Yeah, mechanical issues have me grounded."

"I'm sorry to hear that. I'm Erwin."

He looked at her slightly puzzled, "Erwin?"

"It's my soul name."

Red took that to mean a _nomme de guerre. _"I didn't recognize you without your hat."

Erwin chuckled and sat down next to him on the bench. "Yeah I'll go without underwear before I go without my favorite cap most of the time. My morning exercise is the exception."

"Oh? This is routine for you?"

She nodded, "Yep; for as long as I can remember." Erwin reclined on the bench with her head back, letting her body cool down, and let some of the sweat dry.

Red couldn't help but look her over as she sat next to him. The sweat caused her PT gear to cling to her body, allowing him to see more of her shape. She had relatively small but perky breasts, and her waist was well toned, with strong legs to match.

"Like what you see?"

He looked up, seeing her looking right at him with a playful smirk.

Red collected himself before replying: "It's just that, you remind me of someone."

She raised an eyebrow and sat up normally. "Is that so? What is this person like?"

Red inhaled deeply, it was a broad question. "I only know her by reputation. I've been in battles with her but I never pulled any triggers in her direction. I know she's a very brilliant and charismatic leader, with both skill and daring, respected by friend and foe alike."

Erwin laughed. "Sounds like Rommel."

He grinned, "Well actually there's this rumor about her that she is descended from Rommel. When the Nazi's took power they started a selective breeding program and learned how to manipulate DNA and genetics.

"The story goes that without Rommel's knowledge they took some of his DNA and used it to impregnate some girl who then had a child. It's said that she is the descendant of that child.

Erwin grinned. "A fascinating story; appropriate for someone of legendary ability."

Red smiled and looked down at Erwin's feet. "So why are you running in boots? Why not running shoes?"

Erwin shrugged. "I'm not sure why, but I always do, besides it works my legs more, and I have better ankle support."

She stood up and stretched. "Speaking of which, I better get back to my run if I want to be in time for school. Nice talking to you."

Red watched her go, now with a more analytical eye. The PT gear and boots made sense if she was a military nut, as he perceived her to be, but as he watched her go he realized something. She wasn't running, she was speed marching. The same pace, the same posture, it was just like the military training. She was definitely different than the other girls in Ooara in some special way.

"Nice ass too", he observed with a smirk.

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Yukari yawned, tired from staying up most of the night, trying to find her way around that internet safe-search block, and had failed completely. Despite hours of attempts trying to use the most obscure keywords she had been unable to bypass it. The only hope she had left was that the library in Ooarai proper would not be blocked and she could try there.

Yukari arrived at the school gates where Sodoko was standing with her clipboard, checking to make sure everyone's uniform was within the regulations and to be ready when the school gates closed to mark up any late arrivals.

Yukari had a thought. Sodoko was the head of the disciplinary committee, surely she would know about the blocks.

She ran up with hope and enthusiasm, and addressed her, "Uh, Midoriko-san." Yukari knew it best to user her real name when talking to her in person, it helped put her in a more cooperative frame of mind.

Being part of the Panzerfahren team, Sodoko recognized Yukari's voice immediately.

"Akiyama? What do you want?" Despite Sodoko's stern tone Yukari knew she wasn't being rude or short with her in anyway, it was just the way she was, strait to the point.

"Uh, I was just wondering if you could help a little with a problem I'm having."

Yukari half-expected her to refuse, saying that she had more important things to do; however she said: "What is it?"

Spurred on by this Yukari continued, "I've been trying to research something on the internet but for some reason, even at home, the subject is blocked by some safe-search feature."

Sodoko put her hands on her hips. "If it's blocked then it's obviously immoral and improper, so you shouldn't be researching it anyway", she chided her.

"But I'm trying to find out what is immoral about it. How can I if it's blocked?"

"Sodoko grumbled. "There's only one Internet provider on this ship, talk to them. Now get to class."

A bit frustrated and miffed, Yukari moved on and started on her way to class. It seemed like this mystery was determined to remain out of her reach, but it only made her want the answers more.

"Hey Guderian!"

Yukari looked up the stairs and saw Erwin waiting for her at the top.

"Oh, hello Erwin, how has your day been?"

"Great so far", she replied. "Actually I ran into that pizza guy from yesterday while doing my morning run."

Yukari looked at her surprised. "Oh, where?" They waved when they saw the rest of the History team arrive.

"Port edge" she replied. "We talked a bit, and he told me I reminded him of someone." The other girls had a chuckle at this.

"Who did he say you reminded him of", Yukari asked?

Erwin shrugged. "He didn't say who it was, but it was definitely a compliment."

Caesar laughed. "You sure he wasn't just hitting on you?"

Erwin didn't say anything as a smug grin creped along her face, piquing her friend's curiosity.

"Come one Erwin tell is what happened?"

"Nothing, nothing happened", she said with a dismissive wave of her hand.

Yukari decided to change the subject and ask her friends about her problem. "Hey guys, have you ever had trouble researching something on the internet here? I've been trying to research something but it's being safe-search blocked."

The History team seemed to understand her pain.

"Yeah I was blocked from trying to research orgies", Caesar said.

"I was trying to learn about certain old rituals, but they were blocked too", Saemonza added.

"I've also been blocked from researching various things", Erwin admitted.

Yukari frowned. She could understand why things like that might be blocked, orgies being the most obvious one, but even that was a bit conservative to be blocked, so why then would the War Games be blocked if they were so similar to Panzerfahren, albeit on a much grander scale. Was it possible that there was more to the War Games than Red had told her; something that would be considered immoral? She would have to ask Red about it later, because perhaps there was a good reason."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Red walked through the iron gate of the airfield, on his way back to the Vampire to check on it, he had little confidence in the security on this ship.

He had spent the entire day touring the ship, trying to find a way to pass the time. He tried the arcade but found it too expensive to spend much time there. He tried to see if there was anything interesting at the theater, but nothing caught his eye. The mall was more interesting, and though he didn't buy anything besides a light snack he did see a lot of interesting things, most notably the electric toilets he'd heard so much about.

He looked over the outside of the Vampire, running through a pre-flight checklist to be thorough about it. He was worried about rust developing on the damaged metal. The angry gouges in the planes tough metal skin still looked like the battle wounds of an old shark.

Satisfied that the plane had not been tampered with he entered the cockpit and checked that it also had been undisturbed.

The instruments all appeared to be in place and normal, the seat untouched, the radio was properly set, all the dials the same position her remembered. Usually if someone were to play around in a plane cockpit, the first thing someone would do was play around with all the dials, levers and switches.

He turned the power on briefly to check the battery and found it in good order.

"Hey!"

Red looked up from the cockpit and saw Yukari standing off the starboard wing.

"More questions", he asked expectantly?

Yukari stood with her school bag looped over her left shoulder, and she looked up at him with an almost demanding glare.

"Is there anything about the War Games that would be considered morally questionable?"

Red snickered and dropped down to the ground.

"Yukari, your country opposes the very existence of the War Games. They think it promotes militarism and dystopian societies, or whatever it is, but honestly I don't know the answer.

Yukari frowned, but before she could ask anything else, several other girls arrived, one of them being the clingy one after his money.

"Yukarin, what are you doing?"

Yukari turned around and saw the rest of Anglerfish team appearing, Saori looking rather cross.

"Uh, I was just-"

"You're trying to pick up a guy who brushed me off!"

"Didn't he just outright reject you" Mako asked sleepily?

"No one asked you!"

"I was just trying to get some information" Yukari insisted.

"Like what", Saori demanded. "His phone number?"

"No, that's not it!"

"No girl talks to a boy unless they're either a couple or trying to be a couple."

"What about if you're asking the convenience store clerk for help", Mako asked?

"Even that is a form of flirting" Saori insisted! "My magazines say so!"

"Girls", Red said, trying to break up the argument. "This is a tarmac, not a debate floor."

Then a silky voice in English spoke over them all. "I thought it was your dream to have girls fighting over you."

Red recognized that voice. He looked past the crowd of Ooarai girls to see two other girls approaching.

One had odd silver-green hair in a pair of long, twisted twin-tails, tied with black bows. She wore a white sundress with white sandals, the wind on the tarmac playing with the fabric of the dress, making it flutter and dance gracefully. It was the girl next to her however; that got his full attention, she was the one who spoke to him.

She had long brown hair that went down just past her shoulders, and she wore a lovely light-green tank top and white skirt, with gold sandals.

The Ooarai girl's knew them as Anchovy and Carpaccio, Captain and co-captain of Anzio, one of their opponents during the tournament. Red though; knew Carpaccio by a different name.

"Aria Esposito! W-what are you doing here?"

"Oh weren't you told, she asked with her usual stoic expression? "I'm Pizza Angel's new cook."

Red's eyes widened. "What? You are the new cook? I don't even remember hearing of the position being open."

Aria shrugged. "This is the case. I'm catching the same ride as you I guess."

"Huh, so then, why are you in Japan in the first place?"

Aria shrugged. "My family moved here two years ago, and I didn't want to stay at the barracks so I came too."

"What? But I only met you during the summer!"

"I go fighting during summer and for a few fights throughout the year."

Red looked her over, noticing how different she looked from the last time he saw her.

"You look skinny", he told her.

A small smile came over and face and her eyebrows rose in a suggestive fashion. "Well then, you better feed me."

Red grimaced. "I was hoping you wouldn't remember."

She waved her hand. "Do it tomorrow, I'm spending the day with her before we go", she said, gesturing to Anchovy. "I'll see you later."

Red sighed. "Alright, later then."

The two Anzio girls turned and slowly the rest of the girls started to follow them out, leaving the male pilot alone.

When they were out of earshot, Saori walked up to Carpaccio. "Did you know that boy?"

She nodded. "Yes, we met in Italy, and then we met again in the air shooting bullets at each other."

The girls looked bewildered. "You were shooting at each other", Saori asked?

"Yes, in the annual Battle of Malta. I shot him down, and now he owes me lunch."

Yukari looked at her. "Then, you're a fighter pilot too?"

"Yes. I'm what's called a Hawkette."

Yukari's eyes slowly widened.

"Th-then you're….."

Carpaccio smiled. "I'm a War Gamer."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Carpaccio and Anchovy sat in a restaurant booth of orange seats and a table of light brown wood trim. Their booth sat by a window that faced the road, but still gave provided a nice view of the city lights on the ships living deck as the night sky provided a picturesque background of darkness and twinkling stars.

The two girls had both ordered the same strawberry-banana parfaits and had just started to dig into them.

They ate in silence, neither wanting to start the conversation that would inevitably lead to the discussion about the unfortunate event in their lives that would soon come to pass. They couldn't even look at each other right now, they hadn't since they had ordered their parfaits and smirked at each other when they ordered the same thing.

They continued eating quietly, the only sound in the deserted diner coming from the ceiling fans and their own hungry gulps. Even as they reached the last layer of their dessert, they avoided direct eye contact, and just continued to occasionally glance at each other.

The last layer of dessert was now gone, and they stared through the stained transparent glasses at each other. It almost felt like the world was ending when this get-together was finished.

Carpaccio eventually broke the silence.

"Deuce, everything's going to be okay, you'll be able to continue Panzerfahren here. I'm sure they'll accept you, we did send them all of those cans."

Anchovy crossed her arms. "It's humiliating; I can't believe I've been forced into this."

Carpaccio sighed. "With Anzio cutting so many programs it can't be helped. Since they're short on crew and tanks, then you can join here and you'll be just fine."

Anchovy's prideful mask fell, revealing the depressed expression beneath. "Why do you have to go back to Italy? I want you to stay with me. I've only gotten as far as I have thanks to you."

Carpaccio reached over the table and gently clasped Anchovy's hand.

"I miss a lot of people back home, and within the next few years my parents will also be going back. Besides, you need to show that you can shine on your own."

Anchovies' face stated to turn slightly pink as her eye welled up slightly. "But you're the only friend I have. The only friend I've had in years."

"-and now it's time for you to make new friends", Carpaccio said softly. She moved her other hand and joined it with the other in gently holding the emotional girl's delicate hand. Carpaccio could feel Anchovy's fingers curling as her emotional state became more unstable.

"I-I don't know if I can", the twin tailed girl choked.

"You can", Carpaccio assured her. "You have to learn to make friends, otherwise you will grow up miserably, and your life will feel empty."

Anchovy's lower lip quivered and she started to sniffle.

Carpaccio asked for the bill and began gently stroking Anchovy's hand, trying to calm her, so as not to break down in a public place. By the time the waitress came with their bill, Anchovy had managed to calm herself down with some controlled breathing.

Carpaccio took the bill but the Anchovy snatched from her hand.

"I'll cover it. No arguments."

"As you wish", Carpaccio answered.

The two left the restaurant and walked out towards the student dormitories.

"You don't have to walk me. I can go by myself. It's late anyway; you should be going back to your hotel and getting to sleep."

"It's not far", Carpaccio answered. "And this way I get to stay with you a little longer."

For Anchovy the longer walk together only seemed to make their imminent separation more painful and she really had nothing she felt she could say. There were many things she wanted to tell Carpaccio, such as: being like a sister to her, her closest friend and confidant; if she were lez she'd have wanted her as a lover; the list went on. Well, perhaps there was one thing she could ask her.

"Who was that guy you were talking to, and how did he know your real name?"

Carpaccio looked at her. "Red? Yes, we met in June, and he claimed that he could easily outfly us in our C. 200s in their P-63s. Well we did and because we bet on it, he owes me lunch."

Anchovy raised a skeptical eyebrow. "Is that all?"

Carpaccio shrugged. "Well we spent some time together in-between then and now, but we never really saw each other in the air again, even though we did participate in some of the same battles as them."

She shrugged. "He's the same as every fighter jock: thinks too highly of himself".

Anchovy stopped in front of the dormitory building.

"I'm good from here."

Carpaccio nodded and gave Anchovy a quick hug. "Don't worry, we'll talk again tomorrow. I won't leave without saying goodbye."

Anchovy simply nodded in acknowledgement then retired to her new dorm.

Carpaccio stayed and watched her go up the stairs and disappear around the corner, the first time it felt like there was a real barrier between them since the day they met. Still, she would adjust, and Carpaccio herself was no stranger to leaving friends behind.

She would be joining the Pizza Angels while their Zeppelin started to make its way west across Russia and then to Germany for an airframe inspection by the manufacturer. From there it was just a quick hop home.

She turned on her heel and headed in the direction of the Hotel in which she had booked a room, but she had no intention of going right to sleep.


	6. Endings and Beginnings

Pizza Angels 6: Endings and beginnings

Red groaned as a persistent ringing noise interrupted his peaceful slumber. He groggily reached over and grabbed it; he had a good idea who it was.

"Hello? Red here."

"Red wake up", a stern voice said over the phone.

Red snapped to, throwing off the covers at the voice of his boss.

"Yessir I'm up!"

"Listen carefully", his boss said over the phone. He sounded rather terse today; probably not happy about one of his planes being grounded and having to pay for Red's hotel expenses on top of that.

"We're sending a crew over in the Hoplite ahead of us; they'll look over the plane and repair what they can before we bring in the zep. The locals aren't comfortable with having us around so we have to make this a quick visit. Be there to meet the crew when they arrive, we can't land the zep until the ship docks."

"Understood", Red responded in a professional matter. "What time should we expect them?"

"In a few hours", his boss responded. "Make sure you're there on time."

"Got it."

The boss hung up and Red placed his phone back on the dresser. He ran his hands over his face and looked around the modest hotel room. Aside from the double bed there was a small bathroom that lacked any kind of shower, a small dresser, a small T.V., and a coat hanger.

Sighing he patted the lump under the covers. "Time to get up."

There was a groan and the lump moved a bit, like a strange animal in a sack, until the covers finally slipped down to show Aria's tired face.

"Somehow I knew I would wake up with your hand on my ass", she mumbled. Her eyes indicated a lack of sleep and her hair was in a bad need of a comb. Her left shoulder was uncovered, and showed the orange strap of her bra.

"With one as nice as yours you should expect it more often. Now the boss just called and he wants us up to meet the repair crew when they get here in a few hours." Red stood up off the bed and began to dress himself.

Aria lazily looked at the clock and when she saw that it read 7:00 A.M, her eyes fell and she plopped back down on the pillow, covering herself up once again. "He's not my boss yet", she grumbled.

"But you want to make a good impression don't you", Red asked her. "He did agree to hire you after all." No reaction. "Aw come on Aria, when did you get so lazy?"

"Since I let you lay your horny hands on me", she grumbled back.

"Hey you were the one who asked to grind silk, not me", he retorted.

Grinding silk was a slang term in the War Games that referred to the most common form of physical intimacy amongst War Gamers, which involved all parties (keyword all, not just both), to keep their underwear on, although the girls would sometime remove their bra to go that extra mile, often referred to as going 'open topped' amongst other things.

When all parties removed all of their clothes, but avoided actually having sex, it was often called either 'Razor's Edge', or 'Back against the sea'. When the girl kept her shirt on but removed her bottoms, it was referred to (amongst pilots anyway) as going gear down. A girl wearing only a shirt and nothing else was its own kind of sexy.

"I've spent 2 years in an all-girls school and wasn't offered the luxury of fooling around during the summer, so I've had a lot of estrogen to release."

"Which I was happy to do for you; now please get up."

Aria grumbled, finally tossed off the covers and sat on the side of the bed. Red couldn't help but take a long glance at her.

Aria's bright-orange, frilly undies were very eye catching, and her perky B cups combined with her trim, yet fertile belly and leaned back posture made her look very alluring. Not to mention he knew how nice the other side was, having experienced plenty of it last night.

She got up off the bed then turned and bent down to retrieve her shirt which had ended up partly under the bed.

Unable to resist and feeling playful, despite the early hour, Red reached in and gave her bum a pinch, eliciting a yelp from her.

"Just checking to see if you're still ripe", she said with a smirk.

She cocked an eyebrow at him. "If you keep it up it'll be bruised, and so will you."

"I'll take my chances."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Yukari sat at her desk, staring out the window as her teacher arrived to get on with the days lessons. The sun's friendly rays did little to soothe her troubled mind.

She was thinking about the sudden appearance of Anchovy and Carpaccio yesterday. What were they doing at Ooarai? Even more surprising was Carpaccio's confession that she was a War Gamer and fighter pilot like Red. Why then would she ever participate in Panzerfahren; a sport that-according to Red-War Gamers were disdainful of?

She called herself a Hawkette. What did that mean exactly? If she was a War Gamer then surely she had been keeping tabs on it, but how would she do that if it was blocked? Did that mean she had found a work around? She had to find out.

"All right, listen up everyone", the teacher said. "We have a new student joining us today, so I would like you to give her your full attention and warmest welcomes."

The students were puzzled; a transfer student at this time a year? That was rather unusual.

"Come in please", the teacher said.

The door slid open and a girl shyly stepped inside, and Yukari and Hippo Team's jaws dropped.

"My name is Chiyomi Anzai, nice to meet you."

Yukari was stunned. 'Anchovy?'

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Red and Aria waited on the tarmac beside the grounded Vampire, watching a speck in the distance as it got closer and closer.

"Ever worked with autogyros before", Red asked her?

She shook her head. "No, Italy has a strong helicopter industry; they don't want any competition. Europe in general tends to avoid them."

Red shrugged. "Maybe it's the mountains. Come to think of it I don't think you've done anything outside the main War Gaming circuits."

She sighed. "Not really. The only thing I can think of is being on Anzio's Panzerfahren team."

Red scowled. "I'd still like to know what possessed you to do that."

"I wanted a way to keep my edge throughout the year, and it offered the best way. There aren't a whole lot of other options in this country."

Red sighed and said nothing. The speck was now a much more defined shape as it made its landing approach to Ooarai's airstrip.

One could be forgiven for thinking that the Ford Hoplite was a helicopter with its spinning top mounted rotors, but it was in fact an Autogyro. The large engine and propeller at the front pulled it forward which caused the rotor to spin and provide lift; thus the Hoplite was able to take off and land in a small space without the complexity and expense of a true helicopter.

The red and white hoplite landed on the runway and stopped in less than 100m. It taxied over to the parking spot beside the Vampire and turned off its engine.

The side door slid open and several men wearing khaki coveralls walked out carrying tool boxes and walked over to the Vampire, immediately beginning to inspect it.

"Aren't you going to greet them?"

Red shrugged. "They prefer it if they have a chance to look over the plane first; not really sure why."

The two pilots heard a string of curses from the Vampire as one of the mechanics started shouting at the others, pointing at the large gashes near the wing roots.

He was a man of average statures who looked to be approaching middle age. His hair wasn't grey but wasn't as dark is it probably once was. His rough, hard-jawed face indicated someone who didn't take things lightly.

"Looks like Hackwrench isn't happy", Red smirked.

"Hackwrench?"

"Chief Mechanic; it's the same he goes by." Red sighed. "Well I better go see what's up."

Hackwrench noticed Red approaching and went to meet him.

"Hey Hackwrench. Sorry you had to come all this way."

Hackwrench scowled. "Well if someone hadn't taken out all the armor on the wing roots then we wouldn't have to."

Red blinked. "What? Someone took armor off the wings? Why the hell would someone do that? Do they think they'll save money that way?"

"I don't know, I think it's even dumber than that!"

"Can you fix it here?"

"Yeah but we're gonna have to wait for the _Pepper Cloud_ to get here before we can do any real repairs. Most we can do right now is change the oil."

Red raised an eyebrow at him. "_Pepper Cloud?"_

Hackwrench sighed. "Yeah, he finally decided on a name for the damn thing."

Red looked exasperated. "It took him six years to come up with _Pepper Cloud_? It sounds like what his daughter would name their pony."

Hackwrench snorted in agreement then saw Aria standing a little ways away. "Who's she", he asked?

Red turned and saw that he was looking at Aria. "Oh, she's the new cook apparently. I guess there was an opening I never knew about."

"Well that should shut the kitchen staff up for a while. They've been whining that they need more help for a while."

Red smirked. "We'll have to see if they can handle her."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The bell signaling the start of the school lunch break was welcomed with great enthusiasm as it brought an end to the incredibly boring lesson. Yukari was never a big fan of math.

As she packed her book into her school bag she saw Anchovy rapidly vacate the room ahead of everyone else.

It was certainly strange to see her in the same uniform as them, and it was likely she was aware that there were members of the Panzerfahren team in the class. The History team had a tendency to stand out after all.

Yukari went to her locker and retrieved her bento, meeting up with the History girls again on their way up to the roof. The girls of Ooarai's Panzerfahren club had often been going up to the roof to eat lunch together. It had started after the match against Pravda, and had been a tradition ever since. The other girls greeted them as they arrived on the roof, waving them over as they all sat in a circle in the middle of the roof.

Noticeably absent were the members of the volleyball club, and the student council members. If Yukari remembered correctly the volleyball girls were having intermurals in the gym and the student council was in a meeting.

Yukari sat down next to Hana and the history team squeezed together in the remaining space.

"I'm so excited for our parade", Saori exclaimed! "I'll get a lot of phone calls; I'll have to schedule my dates!"

"Y-yeah", Miho said unsure.

"Oh, I want to find a new boyfriend", Yuuki from the Rabbit team said. "The last one wasn't very nice."

"That's right", Saori said. "True it's important for a girl to seek romance, but she must have standards."

As Saori rambled on about boys Yukari's head was still in the clouds.

Unlike the others she didn't feel so much like celebrating. After everything she'd learned, everything she'd been told, she felt like their accomplishment was really nothing to be too proud about, or at least the 'magic' of it had gone.

"Yukari, are you alright?"

She looked up and saw Miho looking at her with concerned eyes. "Y-yeah, I'm fine; just tired, that's all.

Miho's eyes fell a bit. "You should really get more sleep Yukari."

"Y-yes Ma'am."

As Yukari drew from her juice box a low droning sound could be heard reflecting off the buildings and growing steadily louder.

"What's that sound", Yuuki asked nervously.

"Aya, hurry and look it up on the internet", Karin cried!

"I can't look things up that easily", Aya yelled back!

"Look up", Azusa said.

"I just said I can't!"

"No, I mean literally look up." She pointed skywards and everyone followed her finger, seeing a massive object floating in the sky.

Yukari instantly knew what it was. It had to be the Pizza Angels' Zeppelin.

They looked up in awe of the massive cigar shaped aircraft. It was over two thousand feet long and even over a thousand feet above their heads they could see blisters running along the underside, some even in the two gondolas.

Yukari brought out the binoculars that she always carried with her and gazed through them at the massive airship above. She could see that the blisters running along the ventral surface were gun turrets, bristling with heavy machine guns and auto-cannons. If there were just as many guns along the dorsal surface, then what was flying over their head was a veritable flying fortress.

She zoomed in on the forward gondola and found letters that appeared to be freshly written on the side.

"I think it's called the _Pepper Cloud_."

"That's a cute name for such a scary looking thing", Saori said.

Yukari frowned. She wondered what the reaction of the school staff was going to be with a veritable Death Star floating above their heads. She wondered if it was the reason for the sudden Student Council meeting.

The Zeppelin seemed to be maintaining its position above the ship, as if staring down at them like a hawkish schoolmaster. If it was planning to land on the ship, then it would have to wait until they docked at Oarai, which was expected to happen before the school day ended.

"I want more pizza", Yuuki said. "It was so good."

Saori wagged her finger at her. "No, no; you'll get fat if you eat too much junk food."

The raven haired girl pouted. "But I wanna eat lots so I grow up to be beautiful like Hanna-san."

"Hanna doesn't eat lots of junk food", Saori argued.

"I want to see inside it", Erwin said as she gazed up longingly at it.

Yukari nodded, equally curious.

"Ehhhhh? But isn't it too dangerous", Saori protested?

"There's probably boys on board", Erwin told her with a sly grin.

Saori's eyes grew wide. "Well, I girl can't spend too much time worrying about her figure, since worrying leads to premature wrinkles."

Yukari sighed. Well at least that was out of the way, and if there were any clues about the War Games around, it would be on that Zeppelin.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Red helped Aria with her luggage as they went up the steep steps into the Zeppelins passenger gondola where the restaurant was housed.

At the top of the stairs was the waiting room. Walls of cherry wood and matching floors created a nice warm interior and beyond that into the sitting area.

The passenger gondola was essentially a small three story building with large glass windows that provided amazing natural illumination.

"It's beautiful", Aria said breathlessly.

"Used to be a luxury zep before she was converted", Red answered.

He led her to a door that read: "Staff Only", and then led her through where an elevator waited. They went up the elevator and came up to a noticeably different environment.

It was still clean looking but much darker, bathed in the artificial light with not a window in sight. They must have transferred from the gondola to the interior of the zeppelin. Aria could hear the sounds of a kitchen nearby, and even smell the cooking pizzas.

"Well look who's here."

Red and Aria turned and saw two boys about the same age approach.

"Ah, Aria this is Gazer and Verde, two other delivery pilots."

Gazer had short, spiked brown hair, while Verde had his black hair in a buzzcut. Both boys were wearing the same uniform as Red. They both dressed Aria up and down.

"Nice to meet you", they said in stereo.

"Like wise" she said politely.

Then someone about ten years older appeared from behind them.

"You're Aria" he asked?

"Yes."

"I'm the manager here. Follow me and I'll take you to your quarters."

Aria nodded and grabbed her luggage, following the manager deeper into the bowels of the zeppelin.

"She doesn't seem like much for conversation", Gazer said.

"She isn't", Red told him. "She has….. other methods of communication."

The other two looked at him puzzled but he ignored them and went to the washroom.

"Here's your bunk", the manager told Aria.

The small room was about the size of a king sized bed, with a bunk that folded into the wall, a small desk, and a small dresser.

"We'll start your training tomorrow, so relax until then."

Aria nodded. "Thank you."

The manager nodded and left Aria to start her unpacking.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Do you think they'll let all of us on the ship", Hana asked?

School had just ended and a large portion of the Panzerfahren team was on their way to the airfield where the airship was anchored. They had heard that they were open for business as a pizza restaurant, so the girls were eager to get going.

"If we all agree to buy a slice I'm sure they'll be fine", Saori said. Of all she was the most eager; the only thing as big as her heart was her libido.

"It's so huge", the Rabbit team girls exclaimed as the stepped into the airstrip.

Yukari had to agree there, it seemed much bigger close up, but it also looked far more threatening. Yukari was able to see the dorsal weapons, and they were just as threatening as the ventral ones.

Signs set up on the tarmac guided them to the rearmost gondola of the two and the girls traveled the short distance to the steep stairs.

They all gasped when they saw the interior. The waiting room was impressive by itself, but from there they could see into the sitting and eating area.

"It's like a castle", Karina said excitedly!

The rabbit team gazed through the doorway at the crowded room beyond, swooning over the beautiful, almost fantasy like view.

"Can I help you", a voice asked in broken Japanese?

The Oarai team turned and saw a young girl standing behind the desk, looking at them with an odd expression.

Miho cleared her throat. "Ah, yes, do you sell individual slices?"

The girl paused and looked down at a paper on her desk.

"Yes, but you'll have to wait a bit."

"We don't mind."

The girl nodded and placed a piece of notepaper on the desk. "Please write down your orders here."

One by one the girls lined up and wrote down their preferences and then the girl at the desk told them to wait as she took their order to the kitchen.

Just as she disappeared through the Employees Only door, Carpaccio appeared out of it.

"Oh, nice to see you again", Miho greeted.

Carpaccio nodded. "Come for more pizza?"

The team captain paused. "Weeeeellllll."

"Ohohoho! They have waiters", Saori yelled excitedly! She was quite happy that, for once, her expectations had been fulfilled.

Miho let out a nervous laugh, not really sure what to say.

Yukari meanwhile decided to kill time by seeing what magazines were available and she discovered something interesting.

On the cover of one of the magazines was a picture of a Centurion Main Battle Tank, adorned with markings she did not recognize.

Curious she picked it up and found the table of contents where she saw two key words that immediately grabbed her attention: War Games. This was a War Games related magazine.

She quickly went through the pages, not wanting to read details yet, just wanting to get a general feel of what she was looking at. Then she stopped when she found a picture of a girl who looked very familiar.

Yukari realized that the girl in the magazine reminded her of Erwin. Was this the same girl Erwin reminded Red of? She did have short blonde hair but it was strait, in a rather boyish haircut, and unlike Erwin, this girl appeared flat chested, though she seemed younger. She checked the date on the magazine and it indicated that it was over a year old.

"What are you looking at Guderian", Erwin asked her?

Yukari jerked in surprise, Erwin had caught her a bit off guard. "Oh, just looking at some of these magazines?"

"Oh?" Erwin reached down and picked up a magazine for herself that had images of planes on the cover.

"Whoooaaaaa!"

Yukari nearly jumped from Saori's sudden exclamation as she also discovered the magazines.

"Boys in uniforms!" She was practically drooling as she started to flip through the magazine's pages.

Yukari smiled nervously and leaned away awkwardly. Many of the other girls had come over, curious to see what all the fuss was about.

"This guy's pretty handsome."

Yukari almost froze. She turned her head and realized to her shock that it was Erwin who had spoken.

The blonde haired girl gazed wistfully at the page, is if remembering something from long ago, her eyes had a very sober look to them.

"It's very unusual for you to show such an interest in boys", Caesar said to her.

Saori grinned and then presented Caesar with a page of one of the magazines that showed several handsome guys in roman army uniforms. Caesar's eyes nearly popped out of her sockets as she tentatively grabbed the magazine and her face started to flush as she stared at it.

"What's all the noise about?"

Red suddenly appeared with two other boys from the employee door, looking curiously at the assembly of girls in the waiting room.

Saori licked her lips hungrily and strutted to the front of the gaggle of estrogen, putting on her best smile.

"Hello, I'm Saori. It's nice to meet you gentlemen."

"We've met already", Red told her flatly.

"Hey don't just go talking in some language everyone else can't understand."

Red gave Gazer a dumb look. "You're the only one who doesn't understand it, everyone else speaks Japanese."

Saori also seemed to realize this and cleared her throat. "Hawrow, my name iz Saori."

Gazer smiled and gently took her hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze. "Charmed to meet you Saori. I'm Gazer. I'm honored to meet such a lovely lady as you."

Red and Verde shook their heads, but Saori seemed completely enchanted, despite not understanding what Gazer actually said. It was certainly an example of just how important body language was.

"Take me with you", Saori said dreamily.

Shaking her head and choosing to ignore the rather lame romantic exchange, Carpaccio walked over to Yukari who was totally engrossed in the magazines.

"You're interested in the War Games", she asked her? "Surprising; very few people from Japan, and even fewer girls show such interests."

Yukari managed a weak smile. "Y-yes Ms. Carpaccio; Red told me about them the day he arrived."

"My name is Aria, Carpaccio is behind me."

Yukari's head dropped apologetically. "R-right. Ms. Aria then."

"Just Aria. Did Red happen to speak…. unfavorably about Panzerfahren?"

Yukari paused. "Well, not exactly but, I guess he wasn't being complimentary about it."

Aria shot Red a disapproving glare then looked back at Yukari. "Sorry about that. Red is a bit of an elitist, so he doesn't appreciate just how much work and dedication a Panzerfahren team goes through.

"Tell me Yukari, how did you originally feel about winning the tournament?"

Yukari didn't even have to think about it. She had felt the same everyone else had.

"It was amazing; I felt so proud of what we had accomplished. We had defeated the toughest of opponents, defied all the odds, and won!" She sighed. "But when Red told me about what Kuromorimine did at the world championships, I didn't feel as good."

Aria sighed. "Yes it's true that KMM usually only fights much younger and less experienced opponents, but the fact is that you entered the tournament with virtually no experience or much training, and you ended up winning against, arguably the strongest team. You have every reason to be proud of your accomplishment. What KMM does outside of Japan doesn't matter when you beat with even less skill and experience than those opponents."

Yukari smiled. She felt as though the weight of the world had been on her shoulders and it had just been cast off. "Thank you M-Aria."

"Don't mention it."

"Yay, our Pizza's here!"

The rabbits quickly snatched up their slices of Pizza and began munching happily. Yuuki, still trying to imitate Hana, had three slices instead of just two.

"Alright then, we had best go and get the parade ready to go, so everyone please start making your way to the garage."

The girls filed out, down the stairs to the tarmac below, but one girl didn't want to leave.

"Nooooooooo, I finally found a guy who's interested in meeeeeeee!"

Miho and Hana were using all of their strength the pull Saori to the stairs, but she was putting up quite a fight.

She slipped through their grip and fell to the floor, only to get grabbed by her legs and dragged to the exit, she fingers clawing at the floor.

"Sanctuaaryyyyyyyy!"

Yukari sighed and then waved good bye to Aria before she herself made her way to the exit.

As Saori was pulled down the stairs she let out one final message.

"Call meeeeeee."

Red turned to a slightly bewildered Gazer and said: "Don't call her."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Yukari was probably having the proudest moment in her life as she and the rest of the Panzerfahren team drove down the main streets of Oarai in their tanks, with the tournament flag flapping proudly in the breeze. They waved to the people as they lined the streets, cheering them as they drove by, making sure to spot family members in the crowd.

Yukari was glad to have all the mess of her losing faith in their accomplishment behind her, and though she still wanted to find out the issue with the safe-search block, it didn't feel like a critical issue anymore.

As their parade drew to a close and they headed back to the ship, a low droning noise could be heard over the clacking tracks and screaming engines of their tanks.

Looking up Yukari could see the Zeppelin turning floating away from the ship, the windows on the gondolas glistening in the setting sun.

She realized that Red would also soon be leaving with his newly repaired plane, or at least she imagined it would be repaired by now; she didn't actually see it when they visited the zeppelin. This would be her last chance to talk to him.

The very moment that they tucked their tanks in for the night and they went off to get ready for their formal party, Yukari ran to the airfield, hoping to make it in time.

She arrived at the gates out of breath, panting heavily as she staggered onto the tarmac and was relieved to find the Vampire still sitting in the same spot, but it was no longer strapped down, and Red appeared to be in the cockpit. Standing between her and the Vampire was Carpa-, Aria and…. was that Anchovy talking to her?

"I guess it makes sense that she would see her off", Yukari mused.

Anchovy and Aria stood close to each other, Anchovy with her head down slightly and her hands held in front of her.

"I wish we didn't have to part", the silver haired girl said. "I wanted us to stay together."

Aria gave her a smile. "We've had this conversation before Deuce. This is necessary for both of us. Don't make this any harder."

Yukari was sorry to interrupt the touching conversation, but she needed to ask before she left.

"Um I'm sorry for intruding."

Anchovy nearly jumped out of her skin from surprise, but Aria simply looked at her as if Yukari was delivering a parcel.

"You're back again."

Yukari swallowed and then bowed sharply. "I'm sorry, I just needed to ask you about the safe-search blocks that have been preventing me from looking up information on the War Games. I'm asking for help as someone who loves tanks!"

Aria sighed. "So that's what this is all about. It's blocked in most schools because the government considers it war/violence promotion. They consider Panzerfahren different because it's considered a martial art, but the War Games have only rules of engagement, it's not about honor."

Yukari frowned. "But that just seems….. silly."

Aria shrugged. "If you really want to know, try going to St. Gloriana. They come for the Battle of Britain and Operation Overlord every year so they probably don't have the block."

Yukari looked at her puzzled. "Every year? Is it some kind of re-enactment?"

"Well, sort of. It's more of a scenario than anything else."

Suddenly there was a series of mechanical coughs and then one of the Vampires engines roared to life.

Aria sighed and looked back at Anchovy, her eyes tearing up. "I guess this is, so long."

"I-idiot, don't start crying", Anchovy said as her own eyes started to well.

The two girls shared a long, warm, hug just as the second engine roared to life.

Aria gently pulled away and then climbed up to the cockpit, squeezing herself into the 'rumble seat' behind Red.

The four waved at each other as the Vampire revved its engines and taxied away.

The two girls stayed and watched silently until the flying death machine took off into the sky.

Anchovy then silently walked away, not even exchanging a glace with Yukari.

Yukari felt like she wanted to say something but she just couldn't think of what as the other girl walked out of sight.

Yukari sighed and jogged back to the garages where the tank team was gathering once again about to head out together to the banquet hall.

"Where were you Yukarin", Saori cried? "We were worried."

"Ah, sorry to make you worry."

Suddenly one of the first years screamed and then something blew just over their heads with a deafening roar and everyone hit the deck as wind ripped around them.

"What was that", Saori yelled.

Everyone looked up and they saw the Vampire flying away from them.

Yukari sighed as she realized that they had just been buzzed.

Momo lifted her head up. "That idiot! Where did he learn to fly!"

Yukari just chuckled and they all watched as the plane banked away and then followed the Zeppelin into the sunset.


End file.
